Characterisation of onion-like carbon fabricated by annealing nanodiamond

Abstract

Onion-like carbon (OLC) was fabricated by annealing nanodiamond at 1000°C for 2 h in low vacuum ∼1 Pa. The OLC was characterised by a high resolution transmission electron microscope, an X-ray diffractometer and a Raman spectrometer. The results show that the OLC exhibits similarity to the original nanodiamond particles in shape. The average size of the OLC particle is found to be ∼5 nm. The nanodiamond particles are transformed into OLC completely after annealing. The transformation mechanism of the OLC from the nanodiamond by annealing at lower temperature is reported.