Release Time:2019-03-11  Hits:

Indexed by: Journal Article

Date of Publication: 2018-01-01

Journal: RSC ADVANCES

Included Journals: EI、SCIE

Volume: 8

Issue: 14

Page Number: 7450-7456

ISSN: 2046-2069

Abstract: A nanocomposite of Ag@C nanocapsules dispersed in a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) matrix was fabricated in situ by a facile arc- discharge plasma approach, using bulk Ag as the raw target and methane gas as the carbon source. It was found that the Ag@C nanocapsules were similar to 10 nm in mean diameter, and the MWCNTs had 17-32 graphite layers in the wall with a thickness of 7-10 nm, while a small quantity of spherical carbon cages (giant fullerenes) were also involved with approximately 20-30 layers of the graphite shell. Typical dielectric behavior was dominant in the electronic transport of Ag@C/MWCNT nanocomposites; however, this was greatly modified by metallic Ag cores with respect to pure MWCNTs. A temperature- dependent resistance and I-V relationship provided evidence of a transition from Mott-David variable range hopping [ln rho(T) similar to T-1/4] to Shklovskii-Efros variable range hopping [ln rho(T) similar to T-1/2] at 5.4 K. A Coulomb gap, Delta(C) approximate to 0.05 meV, was obtained for the Ag@C/MWCNT nanocomposite system.