ABSTRACT
Since the discovery of fullerene in 1985, various kinds of carbon nanomaterials have appeared, and different applications have been proposed. Arc discharging has been commonly employed as a technique to produce carbon nanomaterials. In the conventional carbon arc discharge method, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and nanocapsules are synthesized by the thermal arc plasma generated between two graphite electrodes under low pressure (10-100 kPa) [1,2]. In other words, it is a homoelectrode system arc. We tested the arc using a heteroelectrode system, namely, graphite and molybdenum (Mo) electrodes, and grew multiwalled CNTs (MWCNTs) [3]. MWCNTs are found at the cathode deposit that is formed from
the evaporated anode material. We found that MWCNTs grew only at the graphite cathode spot area [4], indicating that the graphite anode is not necessary for the synthesis of MWCNTs via the carbon arc cathode. This nding also suggests that an anode-free arc plasma may produce nanotubes. Since then, we have developed the apparatus for carbon nanomaterial synthesis using various kinds of arc plasma techniques, and we discuss this apparatus in this chapter.
