Synthesis of carbon nanocapsules containing Fe, Ni or Co by arc discharge in aqueous solution

A simple, inexpensive and one-step synthesis method of metal-containing carbon nanocapsules using an arc discharge in aqueous solution is reported. It was found that Ni, Co and Fe nanoparticles could be in situ encapsulated in carbon shells when the arc was performed respectively in aqueous solutions of NiSO4, CoSO4 and FeSO4. Transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and electron diffraction patterns of selected areas were used to determine the crystalline phase of the metal cores. To explain the formation mechanism of metal-containing carbon nanocapsules, a model of discharge in solution is proposed. This result presents a simply controllable way to synthesize metal-containing carbon nanocapsules.