Designing carbon materials with unique shapes using polymer blending and coating techniques

Abstract Three carbon materials having unique and precise shapes were prepared using a polymer blend technique and coating as an auxiliary technique. The polymer blend consists essentially of two kinds of polymers, i.e. a carbon precursor polymer and a decomposable polymer which disappears by pyrolysis without leaving a carbon residue. One of the carbon materials prepared is a carbon fiber including many thin pores, with diameters of sub-μm to 1 μm, elongated along the fiber axis. The next is a carbon tube including a large amount of thin carbon fibers aligned densely along the tube surface. The last one is a microscopic multi-walled carbon tube consisting of three or four walls. The preparation procedures and SEM photographs of these materials are presented and possible applications are discussed briefly.