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Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 115502 (2002) [4 pages]

Nearly Space-Filling Fractal Networks of Carbon Nanopores

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P. Pfeifer1,2, F. Ehrburger-Dolle3,*, T. P. Rieker4,†, M. T. González5, W. P. Hoffman6, M. Molina-Sabio5, F. Rodríguez-Reinoso5, P. W. Schmidt1,‡, and D. J. Voss1
1Department of Physics, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211
2Center for Nonlinear Studies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545
3Institut de Chimie des Surfaces et Interfaces, CNRS, F-68057 Mulhouse, France
4Center for Microengineered Materials, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131
5Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Universidad de Alicante, E-03080 Alicante, Spain
6Air Force Research Laboratory, Edwards Air Force Base, California 93524

Received 11 January 2001; revised 17 October 2001; published 28 February 2002

Small-angle x-ray scattering, nitrogen adsorption, and scanning tunneling microscopy show that a series of activated carbons host an extended fractal network of channels with dimension Dp = 2.8–3.0 (pore fractal), channel width 15–20Å (lower end of scaling), network diameter 3000–3400Å (upper end of scaling), and porosity of 0.3–0.6. We interpret the network as a stack of quasiplanar invasion percolation clusters, formed by oxidative removal of walls between closed voids of diameter of ∼10Å and held in registry by fibrils of the biological precursor, and point out unique applications.

© 2002 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.115502
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.115502
PACS:
61.10.Eq, 47.55.Mh, 61.43.Hv, 81.05.Rm

*Present address: Laboratoire de Spectrométrie Physique, CNRS, Université Joseph Fourier, BP 87, F-38402 Saint-Martin d'Hères Cedex, France.

†Present address: Corporate Research, Corning Inc., SP-FR-03, Corning, NY 14831.

‡Deceased.

 
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