Thermal stability of carbon nanotubes, fullerene and graphite under spark plasma sintering

The thermal stabilities of carbon nanotubes, fullerene and graphite were investigated under spark plasma sintering (SPS). Results were compared with data from synchrotron radiation in situ high temperature X-ray diffraction of these materials. Part of the nanotubes and fullerene transformed into diamond under SPS, but graphite kept stable. There was no diamond conversion in the in situ X-ray diffraction experiments under the same condition. Their phase transitional mechanism indicated the presence of plasmas during the SPS operation. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.