Abstract
A microwave arcing process to produce quasipure core/shell iron/carbon nanoparticles with well-graphitized carbon shells using organometallic precursors in a focused microwave oven without the coexistence of carbon nanotubes (CNT) was investigated. A high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) image showed that the graphene shells of Fe@CNPs are well graphitized. The amount of hollow carbon shell nanoparticles was very limited, and indicated that most of the internal iron core nanoparticles were well protected from acid corrosion by graphene shells. The Fourier transformed electron diffraction pattern matched well with the simulated pattern using an orthorhombic crystalline structure and the lattice constants obtained from the PXRD measurements. Core/shell metal carbon nanoparticles were predominantly produced in the current microwave-arcing process without the simultaneous formation of CNTs.