Abstract
Rhenium (Re), a high-performance engineering material with a hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure, remains stable even under pressures of up to 250 GPa and at temperatures up to its melting point (3453 K). We observed here that Re atoms self-assembled, within the confined space of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with a diameter of <1.5 nm, into ultrathin nanowires stacking with an unusual face-centered cubic (fcc) structure along the CNTs. In contrast, only Re nanoparticles of hcp structure formed on an open surface of graphite and carbon black. Aberration-corrected electron microscopy unambiguously showed the atomic arrangements of the Re nanowires and their confinement within the CNTs, ∼80% exhibiting a four-atom and 15% a nine-atom configuration. Density functional theory calculations confirmed that the formation of unusual fcc-stacking Re nanowires is largely facilitated by the strong interaction between Re atoms and CNTs and the spatial restriction within the CNTs. The use of CNTs as nanoscale reactors to create novel structures not only is fundamentally interesting but also may find unique applications in catalysis, sensing, and nanoelectronics.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1569-1573 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Chemistry of Materials |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 10 2015 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Chemistry
- Chemical Engineering(all)
- Chemistry(all)
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Self-assembly of atomically thin and unusual face-centered cubic re nanowires within carbon nanotubes. / Zhang, Fan; Ren, Pengju; Pan, Xiulian; Liu, Jingyue; Li, Mingrun; Bao, Xinhe.
In: Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 27, No. 5, 10.03.2015, p. 1569-1573.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Self-assembly of atomically thin and unusual face-centered cubic re nanowires within carbon nanotubes
AU - Zhang, Fan
AU - Ren, Pengju
AU - Pan, Xiulian
AU - Liu, Jingyue
AU - Li, Mingrun
AU - Bao, Xinhe
PY - 2015/3/10
Y1 - 2015/3/10
N2 - Rhenium (Re), a high-performance engineering material with a hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure, remains stable even under pressures of up to 250 GPa and at temperatures up to its melting point (3453 K). We observed here that Re atoms self-assembled, within the confined space of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with a diameter of <1.5 nm, into ultrathin nanowires stacking with an unusual face-centered cubic (fcc) structure along the CNTs. In contrast, only Re nanoparticles of hcp structure formed on an open surface of graphite and carbon black. Aberration-corrected electron microscopy unambiguously showed the atomic arrangements of the Re nanowires and their confinement within the CNTs, ∼80% exhibiting a four-atom and 15% a nine-atom configuration. Density functional theory calculations confirmed that the formation of unusual fcc-stacking Re nanowires is largely facilitated by the strong interaction between Re atoms and CNTs and the spatial restriction within the CNTs. The use of CNTs as nanoscale reactors to create novel structures not only is fundamentally interesting but also may find unique applications in catalysis, sensing, and nanoelectronics.
AB - Rhenium (Re), a high-performance engineering material with a hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure, remains stable even under pressures of up to 250 GPa and at temperatures up to its melting point (3453 K). We observed here that Re atoms self-assembled, within the confined space of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with a diameter of <1.5 nm, into ultrathin nanowires stacking with an unusual face-centered cubic (fcc) structure along the CNTs. In contrast, only Re nanoparticles of hcp structure formed on an open surface of graphite and carbon black. Aberration-corrected electron microscopy unambiguously showed the atomic arrangements of the Re nanowires and their confinement within the CNTs, ∼80% exhibiting a four-atom and 15% a nine-atom configuration. Density functional theory calculations confirmed that the formation of unusual fcc-stacking Re nanowires is largely facilitated by the strong interaction between Re atoms and CNTs and the spatial restriction within the CNTs. The use of CNTs as nanoscale reactors to create novel structures not only is fundamentally interesting but also may find unique applications in catalysis, sensing, and nanoelectronics.
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U2 - 10.1021/cm504012h
DO - 10.1021/cm504012h
M3 - Article
VL - 27
SP - 1569
EP - 1573
JO - Chemistry of Materials
JF - Chemistry of Materials
SN - 0897-4756
IS - 5
ER -