Synthesis and Characterization of Porous Carbon/Fe Nanocomposite

Porous carbon/Fe nanocomposite was produced by vacuum impregnation method and following heattreatment 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 nanoribbons and Fe nanoparticles. Fe nanoparticles that are encapsulated by graphitic layers distribute uniformly inside the amorphous carbon matrix. The graphene nanoribbons extend throughout the amorphous carbon matrix and interconnect each other to form a graphene nanoribbon network. Reaction process is investigated by a thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) method, and the growth mechanism of carbon nanoribbons is also discussed.