Synthesis and Characterization of Porous Carbon/Fe Nanocomposite

Porous carbon/Fe nanocomposite was produced by vacuum impregnation method and following heat-treatment process using activated carbon as the raw material.The surface area(BET) and the pore size distribution of the nanocomposite were measured through nitrogen adsorption method at 77K.X-ray diffraction(XRD) and transmission electron microscope(TEM) were used to characterize the microstructure and morphology.Surface area of the C/Fe nanocomposite is 450-650m2/g,and the composite also has a similar pore size distribution to activated carbon in mesoporous range.The C/Fe nanocomposite is composed of amorphous carbon,graphene nano-ribbons and Fe nanoparticles.Fe nanoparticles that are encapsulated by graphitic layers distribute uniformly inside the amorphous carbon matrix.The graphene nano-ribbons extend throughout the amorphous carbon matrix and interconnect each other to form a graphene nano-ribbon network.Reaction process is investigated by a thermo gravimetric analysis(TGA) method,and the growth mechanism of carbon nano-ribbons is also discussed.