Synthesis of carbon nanofibers on copper particles

We analyze the synthesis of carbon nanostructures from the gas phase (mixture of acetylene or ethylene with hydrogen) on the surface of copper particles without using other catalysts. The synthesized structures (multilayer graphene and carbon nanofibers) are analyzed by transmission electron microscopy and Raman scattering. It is shown that the fiber structure is determined by the C: H ratio in the gas phase. The kinetics of synthesis is analyzed in terms of the formal kinetics of conversion in accordance with the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami equation.