Synthesis and characterization of single wall carbon nanohorns produced by direct vaporization of graphite

A new method is described for large-scale production of Single Wall Carbon Nanohorns (SWCNH). In a prototype reactor (a 30 kW plant for an estimated production of about 100 g/h of soot) optimal thermodynamic conditions that favour nanohorn formation were determined. The characterization of collected soot was performed by several techniques: thermogravimetric analyses (TGA), Raman spectroscopy, and transmission/secondary electron microscopies (HRTEM - SEM). The soot analyses revealed conspicuous presence of good-quality carbon nanostructure, mainly SWCNHs, with small amounts of graphene foils and amorphous phase material. The first results demonstrated the excellent capability of the new approach that can be easily scaled up to tens the present scale, potentially becoming a powerful method to bring SWCNHs into every day applications.