Growth of Y-shaped carbon nanofibers from ethanol flames

Y-shaped carbon nanofibers as a multi-branched carbon nanostructure have potential applications in electronic devices. In this article, we report that several types of Y-shaped carbon nanofibers are obtained from ethanol flames. These Y-shaped carbon nanofibers have different morphologies. According to our experimental results, the growth mechanism of Y-shaped carbon nanofibers has been discussed and a possible growth model of Y-shaped carbon nanofibers has been proposed.