Negatively curved spongy carbon

We describe the production and characterization of a form of nanostructured carbon consisting of fully connected, three-dimensional (3D) sp(2) networks. This form of carbon is characterized by interconnected thin layers forming a spongy structure with meso- and macroporosity. It is produced by a pulsed microplasma cluster source, in the presence of a very low concentration of metallorganic catalyst. The unique 3D structure and, topology of the spongy carbon are very interesting for catalysis and electrochemical applications and for the investigation of negatively curved forms of carbon such as schwarzites. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.