Amorphous carbon nanotubes with tunable properties via template wetting

Amorphous carbon nanotubes have been prepared by casting thin films of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and polystyrene-block-polyacrylonitrile (PS-b-PAN) within a porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane followed by pyrolysis. Raman and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) measurements indicate that the carbon nanotubes are of low crystallinity. The thickness of the carbon nanotube walls is controlled by either changing the concentration of the precursor solution or by using multiple casting and pyrolysis steps. When diblock copolymers of PS-b-PAN are used, it is found that nanopores are created within the nanotube walls after pyrolysis. The carbon nanotubes can be used to create carbon coated nanorods of polystyrene-block-polybutadiene (PS-b-PBD).