A New Type of Carbon Nanostructure Formed Within a Metal-Matrix

Recent advances in nanomanufacturing have made it possible for large amounts ( 6 wt.%) of carbon to be incorporated as nanoscale carbon during a reaction process in molten aluminum, copper, silver, and other metals. These materials developed by Third Millennium Metals, LLC are called covetics. The carbon is highly stable despite its form not being predicted in phase diagrams, and remains dispersed after remelting and resolidification. The carbon incorporates into the metal matrix and has an effect on several of the properties of the material. We have performed a detailed investigation of the structure and composition of several covetics using a variety of microscopy and spectroscopy techniques and found that the carbon forms nanoparticles of 5-200 nm diameter that are embedded in the host matrix. EELS spectra obtained from these regions show characteristic shape of carbon nanotubes (CNT). Raman data obtained from these samples also show the G-mode and D-mode characteristic of CNT.
Presented at Tech Connect World held in Santa Clara, CA on 18-12 June 2012. The original document contains color images.