Formation of metallic NbSe2 nanotubes and nanofibers

We succeed in synthesizing NbSe2 nanotubes along with nanofibers by chemical vapor transportation. They are stable crystalline systems and can be synthesized reproducibly in a nearly equilibrium reacting process. We have investigated these nanosize structures of NbSe2 by transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction. Both of the structures have a similar size of 100-200 nm in diameter. While nanotubes consist of rolled-up NbSe2 layers, nanofibers are a pile of thin flat layers. We propose a mechanism of the formation of NbSe2 nanotubes and nanofibers on the basis of deseleniditive transition from a NbSe3 fiber-shaped crystal. We also measured electrical resistance of the nanofibers with conductive atomic force microscopy and demonstrated that the material show metallic behavior at room temperature. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.