Synthesis and characterization of single-phase TiC nanotubes, TiC nanowires, and carbon nanotubes equipped with TiC nanoparticles

Single-phase TiC nanotubes were successfully synthesized for the first time, by the reaction of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with Ti powder at 1300 degrees C for 30 h. CNTs equipped with TiC nanoparticles and TiC nanowires were synthesized along with these single-phase TiC nanotubes, and the number ratio of single-phase TiC nanotubes to these other products was very small. According to the core and low-energy electron energy loss spectra taken from CNTs and the CNTs reacted with Ti powder, the ratio of Ti to C in TiC nanowire was higher than that in TiC nanotubes and the ratio in CNTs equipped with TiC nanoparticles was the lowest. Three different types of TiC nanomaterials, TiC nanowires, TiC nanotubes, and CNTs equipped with TiC nanoparticles, as well as unreacted CNTs, were observed in this study, possibly because the concentration of Ti vapor decreased with increase in depth from the surface of CNT aggregates. A partly single-crystalline TiC nanotube was also observed.