On the other hand, laser ablation of PPh3 resulted in the production of metal-free NCFs consisting of graphitic nanostructures and P-containing amorphous carbon aggregates [6]. We report how our versatile ‘laser chemistry’ approach can be extended to the learn more synthesis of a variety Linsitinib ic50 of other metal-NCFs, as well as to metal-free, P-free NCFs, proving that the synthesis of NCFs is not restricted to PPh3-based targets and therefore enabling envisioning the synthesis of metal-carbon hybrids by chemical design. Additionally, physicochemical studies have been performed on metal-free NCFs to evaluate their potential applications. We also show that NCFs can be easily chemically processed in the form

of stable NCF dispersions in different solvents and NCF biocomposite fibers, which offer promise for NCF incorporation into different matrices and technological

applications. Methods The production of carbon foams has been carried out by Nd:YAG laser ablation of thick layers of coordination and organic compounds in air atmosphere using the setup described in find more Figure 1 and under the experimental conditions described elsewhere [5, 6]. Different metal-NCFs have been produced by laser irradiation of dichlorobis(triphenylphosphine)nickel(II) [NiCl2(PPh3)2], dichlorobis(triphenylphosphine)cobalt(II) [CoCl2(PPh3)2], and [1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane]dichloroiron(II) [FeCl2(Dppe)]. P-free metal-NCFs were produced using bis(benzonitrile)dichloropalladium(II) [PdCl2(PhCN)2], dichloro(1,10-phenanthroline)palladium(II) [PdCl2(Phen)], and (2,2´-bipyridine)dichloropalladium(II) [PdCl2(Bipy)]. Naphthalene, phenanthrene, and 1,10-phenanthroline have been used as precursors for the synthesis of metal-free, P-free NCFs. All chemicals were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Schnelldorf, Germany and Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, France) and used as received. Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the experimental setup used for the laser ablation production

nearly of NCFs. A galvanometer mirror box (A) distributes the laser radiation (B) through a flat field focal lens and a silica window (C) onto layers of the employed organometallic compounds (D) deposited onto a ceramic tile substrate (E) placed inside a portable evaporation chamber (F). The synthesized soot is mainly collected on an entangled metal wire system (G). The produced vapors are evacuated through a nozzle (H). The structure of the synthesized NCFs was imaged by scanning electron microscopy (SEM, Hitachi S-3400N (Hitachi, Ltd., Chiyoda-ku, Japan), including a Röntec XFlash detector (Röntec GmbH, Berlin, Germany) for energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analyses), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM, JEOL JEM-3000F microscope, JEOL Ltd., Akishima-shi, Japan, equipped with an Oxford Instruments ISIS 300 X-ray microanalysis system and a Link Pentafet detector, Oxford Instruments, Abingdon, UK, for EDS analyses).