EEL calculations and measurements of graphite and graphitic-CNx core-losses

Conference item

Core EEL spectra of MWCNTs (multi-wall carbon nanotubes) grown in a nitrogen atmosphere were acquired utilising a dedicated STEM equipped with a Gatan Enfina system. Splitting of the carbon K-edge pi* resonance into two peaks provided evidence of two non-degenerate carbon bonding states. In order to confirm the presence of a CNx bonding state, a full-potential linearised augmented plane-wave method was utilised to simulate core EEL spectra of graphite and graphitic-CNx. compounds. The simulations confirmed splitting of the carbon K-edge pi* resonance in graphitic-CNx materials, with the pristine graphite pi* resonance remaining unsplit. The simulations also confirmed the increasing degree of amorphicity with higher concentrations (25%) of substitutional nitrogen in graphite.

Authors: Seepujak, A; Bangert, U; Harvey, A; Blank, V; Kulnitskiy, B

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: EMAG-NANO 2005: Imaging, Analysis and Fabrication on the Nanoscale
• Volume: 26
• Pages: 161-164
• Publication date: 2006-01-01
• Event title: EMAG/NANO Conference on Imaging, Analysis and Fabrication on the Nanoscale
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/26/1/038
• EISSN: 1742-6596
• ISSN: 1742-6588
• Keywords: CARBON; NANOFIBRES; ABSORPTION FINE-STRUCTURE