Synthesis of carbon nanohorns by the simple catalytic method

A mass of multi-wall carbon nanohorns (CNHs) were synthesized by simple chemical vapor deposition of methane over Ni/Al2O3. Transmission electron microscopy was used to characterize these CNHs. The results showed that the purity of CNHs was about 40–50% and these CNHs were with well graphitized multi-walled structures. The mean diameter of CNHs was about 20 nm, which is larger than those prepared by the CO2 laser method, and the length of CNHs was in the range of 50–500 nm. Moreover, the growth mechanism of CNHs was discussed.