The present invention provides methods for uniform growth of nanostructures such as nanotubes (e.g., carbon nanotubes) on the surface of a substrate, wherein the long axes of the nanostructures may be substantially aligned. The nanostructures may be further processed for use in various applications, such as composite materials. For example, a set of aligned nanostructures may be formed and transferred, either in bulk or to another surface, to another material to enhance the properties of the material. In some cases, the nanostructures may enhance the mechanical properties of a material, for example, providing mechanical reinforcement at an interface between two materials or plies. In some cases, the nanostructures may enhance thermal and/or electronic properties of a material. The present invention also provides systems and methods for growth of nanostructures, including batch processes and continuous processes.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a carbon mixture having high electrical conductivity. A carbon mixture according to the present invention is characterized by including a fibrous carbon nanohorn aggregate having a length of 1 m or more in an amount of 20 wt % or more.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a carbon mixture having high electrical conductivity. A carbon mixture according to the present invention is characterized by including a fibrous carbon nanohorn aggregate having a length of 1 m or more in an amount of 20 wt % or more.

A monolithic carbon foam formed of fused onion-like carbon (OLC) nanoparticles, in which the monolithic carbon foam contains interconnected pores, has a volumetric micropore surface area of 200 m.sup.2/cc-600 m.sup.2/cc, and has an electrical conductivity of 20 s/cm-140 s/cm. Also disclosed are electrodes and energy storage devices constructed therefrom.

A monolithic carbon foam formed of fused onion-like carbon (OLC) nanoparticles, in which the monolithic carbon foam contains interconnected pores, has a volumetric micropore surface area of 200 m.sup.2/cc-600 m.sup.2/cc, and has an electrical conductivity of 20 s/cm-140 s/cm. Also disclosed are electrodes and energy storage devices constructed therefrom.

The present invention discloses a method for preparing surface-active onion-like carbon nanospheres based on vapor deposition, comprising: directly preparing high-surface-activity onion-like carbon nanospheres formed by coating ferroferric oxide nano-particles on an onion-like graphitized shell by taking liquid small organic molecule alkane n-dodecane as a carbon source to perform chemical vapor deposition at high temperature of 650700 C. in an inert carrier gas environment with existence of a ferrocene catalyst. An onion-like carbon nanosphere product prepared according to the present invention has good surface activity and thermal stability, is wide in practicability, and can be widely applied to the fields of adsorbing materials, energy storage materials, catalytic materials, medical materials and the like.

The present invention discloses a method for preparing surface-active onion-like carbon nanospheres based on vapor deposition, comprising: directly preparing high-surface-activity onion-like carbon nanospheres formed by coating ferroferric oxide nano-particles on an onion-like graphitized shell by taking liquid small organic molecule alkane n-dodecane as a carbon source to perform chemical vapor deposition at high temperature of 650700 C. in an inert carrier gas environment with existence of a ferrocene catalyst. An onion-like carbon nanosphere product prepared according to the present invention has good surface activity and thermal stability, is wide in practicability, and can be widely applied to the fields of adsorbing materials, energy storage materials, catalytic materials, medical materials and the like.

The present disclosure relates to a system and method for synthesis of condensed, nano-carbon materials to create nanoparticles. In one embodiment the system may have a source of liquid precursor, a flow control element and a shock wave generating subsystem. The flow control element is in communication with the source of the liquid precursor and creates a jet of liquid precursor. The shock wave generating subsystem drives a shock wave through at least a substantial portion of a thickness of the jet of liquid precursor to sufficiently compress the jet of liquid precursor, and to increase a pressure and a temperature of the jet of liquid precursor, to create solid state nanoparticles.

The present disclosure relates to a system and method for synthesis of condensed, nano-carbon materials to create nanoparticles. In one embodiment the system may have a source of liquid precursor, a flow control element and a shock wave generating subsystem. The flow control element is in communication with the source of the liquid precursor and creates a jet of liquid precursor. The shock wave generating subsystem drives a shock wave through at least a substantial portion of a thickness of the jet of liquid precursor to sufficiently compress the jet of liquid precursor, and to increase a pressure and a temperature of the jet of liquid precursor, to create solid state nanoparticles.

A near-field scanning probe includes: a measurement probe that relatively scans a test sample; an excitation light irradiation system; a near-field light generation system that generates near-field light in a region including the measurement probe in response to irradiation with excitation light from the excitation light irradiation system; and a scattered light detection system that detects Rayleigh scattering and Ramen scattered light of the near-field light from the sample, generated between the measurement probe and the sample, and the near-field scanning probe is characterized in that the near-field light generation system includes a cantilever with a chip coated with a noble metal, and a tip of the chip is provided with a thin wire group including a plurality of carbon nanowires with a noble metal provided at ends thereof.