The fabrication and application of magnetite coated N-doped carbon microtubes hybrid nanomaterials with sandwich structures

Abstract

In this work, N-doped carbon microtubes have been synthesized using MoO₃ microrods as the sacrificial template. Then, the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were integrated into N-doped carbon microtubes to obtain triple-walled Fe₃O₄@N-doped carbon@Fe₃O₄ microtubes via a high temperature decomposition process. Due to the coordination ability of nitrogen and the unique structures of the N-doped carbon microtubes, the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were closely attached to both the external and internal surfaces of the N-doped carbon microtubes and thus, assured a relatively good response to an external magnetic field. All these features make the nanocomposites well fitted for adsorption, catalysis, energy storage etc. Moreover, the N-doped carbon microtubes can be used as versatile templates to synthesize other triple-walled composites M@N-doped carbon@M microtubes (such as M = Cu(Cu₂O), MnO₂, MoS₂), which greatly widens the applications of N-doped carbon microtubes.