The reduction was carried out by the two-electrode method (anode: Mg, cathode: stainless steel) in tetrahydrofuran, where lithium chloride and iron (II) chloride were dissolved as supporting salts. The PTFE film turned black and the product showed bands at 2100 - 2200 cm-1, which is assigned to the polyyne structure, in the IR and Raman spectrograms. The analysis indicates that the product partially contains the polyyne structure, though it is not a perfect polyyne.
The cross-section of the film (100 nm thick), which was embedded in an epoxy resin, was heated (800C) and irradiated with electrons (accelerating voltage: 100 kV) in a transmission electron microscope. The electron irradiation lead to the formation of carbon nanotubules 2-4). The obtained nanotubules were a few mm in length, 10 - 50 nm in outer diameter. The number of the graphine layer in the wall was more than 2. This result suggests that the polyyne-containing carbon can be a precursor to form the carbon nanotubules.
References
1. N. Kawase et al., Carbon 36, 1234 - 1235, 1998.
2. N. Kawase et al., Carbon, in press
3. N. Kawase et al., Carbon, in press
4. A. Yasdua et al., Reactive and Functional Polymers,
in press.