Growth and characterization of electroless deposited Cu films on carbon nanofibers

Carbon nanofibers with two different microstructures, herringbone and platelet have been used as substrates to study the influence of electroless deposition parameters on the growth of Cu deposits. Flat glassy carbon and graphite powder substrates were also included in the study for comparison. Samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, FT-IR, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in terms of microstructure and chemical composition. The specific surface area was determined by sorption techniques. High quality copper films can be grown on carbon nanofibers at room temperature if carbon nanofibers' pretreatment is properly adjusted. The optimized process is easily up scaled to larger batches of carbon nanofibers.