| Abstract
| - High-density heterostructures of amorphous carbon nanotubes encapsulated single-crystalline tin nanowires(a-CNT−Sn) have successfully been synthesized by using the simple thermal evaporation of solid tin powder(Sn) and introduction of ethylene gas (C2H4). A commercially widely used porous carbon paper, consistingof micrographitic fibers, was employed as growing substrate. The morphology, composition, and structure ofthe synthesized nano-heterostructures were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmissionelectron microscopy (TEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. It was found that the resultantheterostructures are uniformly distributed on graphitic fibers and that these well-defined tin (Sn) nanowires,up to 10 μm in length, are completely covered with amorphous carbon walls of about 30 nm thickness. Thehollow features at the tips of such heterostructures were revealed. A growth mechanism has been proposedto explain the growth processes for such novel heterostructures. The synthesis method reported here can beemployed to fabricate oriented nanotube arrays filled with other nanowires on a variety of substrates at largescale.
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