Nanostructured carbide-derived carbon synthesized by chlorination of tungsten carbide

Nanostructured carbide-derived carbons were synthesized from a-tungsten carbide (WC-CDC) powder via gas phase chlorination within the temperature range from 700 to 1100 degrees C. Analysis of X-ray diffraction results showed that WC-CDC are mainly amorphous consisting of relatively small graphitic crystallites and the apparent crystallite size along the a- and c-directions of graphite structure L-a approximate to 4 nm and L-c approximate to 1.5 nm were calculated. The first-order Raman spectra showed the graphite-like absorption peak at similar to 1590 cm(-1) and the disorder-induced peak at similar to 1350 cm(-1). The low-temperature N-2 sorption experiments were performed and a specific micropore surface area up to 1550 m(2) g(-1) and total pore volume up to 0.89 cm(3) g(-1) were obtained for WC-CDC synthesized at T = 1100 degrees C. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy studies revealed that WC-CDC prepared at 800 degrees C correspond to the highly disordered carbon material but WC-CDC prepared at 1100 degrees C showed partial graphitization. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.