Carbon Nitride Nanocomposites: Formation of Aligned CxNy Nanofibers

The preparation of carbon nitride nanotubes has proved extremely difficult—to date only small quantities of nitrogen (≤5%) have been incorporated into carbon nanotubes or filaments and the synthesis of crystalline C3N4 and CN nanotubes with their interesting predicted properties remains a challenge for the future. Now the generation of aligned C13Nx (x ≤ 1) nanofibers in high yield by pyrolyzing melamine over laser-patterned thin films of Fe and Ni catalyst deposited on a silica substrate is reported. The resulting aligned, hollow, thin-walled fibers exhibit unusual graphitic corrugated morphologies. The authors suggest that pyrolysis of organic precursors containing N (e.g., melamine) may provide an additional route to CN nanostructures.