Abstract
Terephthalic acid disodium salt (TADS), C6H4(COONa)2, pyrolyzes in a solid phase at above 600°C. That pyrolysis produces a composite of carbon nanofibrils and fine sodium carbonate crystals. The carbon nanofibrils are amorphous and have 10-200 nm diameter. Forms of the carbon nanofibrils depend on experimental conditions. The carbon fibrils formed at 600°C are slightly entangled and bunched into bundles. Moreover, those bundles are aligned roughly in the direction parallel to the b-axis of the pristine TADS crystals. Wide-angle x-ray diffraction images of a pyrolytic product from a TADS crystal showed those arcs attributable to monoclinic sodium carbonate, indicating the rough alignment of the sodium carbonate crystals. Carbon nanofibrils are inferred to form as a result of exclusion by roughly aligned sodium carbonate crystals. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2005.484]
