Fluorinated cage multiwall carbon nanoparticles

Multiwall carbon nanoparticles from the inner part of a deposit grown onto a cathode in an are-discharge condition were fluorinated at room temperature using volatile fluoride BrF3. The sample produced was characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared (IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). These methods point to the presence of covalent C-F bonds in the sample with retention of the sp(2)-hybridizated carbon atoms composing the cage tubular or quasi-spherical shells. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated a decrease of cage nanoparticles in the fluorinated material relative to the pristine sample that may be connected with unrolling the nanotubes during fluorination. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.