Synthesis of carbon nanotubes with claw-like ends at mild condition

A new morphology of carbonaceous material, nanotubes with claw-like ends, was synthesized at 200 °C, using aluminum and hexachloroethane as reactants, aluminum chloride as catalyst and benzene as solvent. The samples were characterized with X-ray diffractometor. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images reveal that the sample is tubular structure with claw-like ends. The claw-like ends are about 230 nm in length and the width of the claw-like ends is in the range of 60–80 nm. The magnified view shows that the average thickness of the nanotube wall is about 60 nm. A possible metal reduction mechanism was proposed. Due to their novel morphology, they may have applications in many fields, such as nanosweezers, and tips of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) or field emission device.