Synthesis of two dimensional carbon sheets from adamantane

Abstract

Graphene-like carbon sheets were synthesized from adamantane in the solution phase at ambient temperature. Adamantane, C10H16, has a tetracyclic ring structure with four cyclohexanes in chair conformation. The two dimensional carbon structures were obtained by introducing ferrocene as the catalyst precursor and adamantane as the carbon source under sonication, proving that cyclohexane structures in adamantane can serve as a building block for graphene formation. The synthesized carbon sheets were characterized and confirmed by X-ray diffraction, high-resolution electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.