Carbon nanotubes filled with long continuous cobalt nanowires

Abstract.

In this paper, we report the catalytic synthesis of carbon nanotubes filled with long continuous cobalt nanowires by a simple chemical process. The average diameter of the multi-walled nanotubes is about 40 nm. The nanowires are a few micrometers long with a diameter of 20 nm. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that the as-prepared material, following treatment with HCl, shows the cobalt nanowires, encapsulated in the carbon nanotubes, as having an fcc and not the table hexagonal structure. The filled nanotubes can be seperated by using a permanent magnet. TEM, XPS and Raman spectroscopy were also used to analyze the products.