Carbon hollow nanospheres from chlorination of ferrocene

The chlorination of ferrocene at 900 degrees C yields very interesting carbon hollow nanospheres (CHNSs) with diameters of similar to 50-150 nm and similar to 12-25 nm thick walls. X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy shows no traces of chlorine or iron and the pi*/sigma* ratio of the carbon bonding was quantified by electron energy-loss spectroscopy with 80% sp(2) (100% sp(2) for pure graphite). Energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy has been used to establish the hollow nature of the CHNSs by thickness mapping. Electron energy loss spectroscopy, high-resolution TEM, and Raman microspectroscopy techniques have stated that the CHNS carbon walls are composed of disordered and independent curved graphene nanoflakes similar to 3-4 nm long that tend to graphitize with longer reaction times.