Structural properties of carbon prepared from aligned polyacetylene thin films

Aligned polyacetylene (PA) thin films consisting of fibrils of about 100 nm in diameter were carbonized at 1000 °C in a vacuum or in an argon gas. Structures and morphologies of the carbons prepared from the aligned PA thin films were investigated using Raman spectroscopy, X-ray measurements, and scanning and transmission electron microscopes. The carbonization gave rise to a char of amount of 20% in weight of the PA film. The char was found to contain nanorods of about 10 nm in width. Morphology of the carbon nanorod reflected that of the aligned PA thin film. Subsequently, the char was graphitized by further heating at 2600 °C.