Orthogonal Carbon Nanofibers by Template-Mediated Assembly of Discotic Mesophase Pitch

Novel carbon nanofibers (see Figure) are synthesized by capillary impregnation of discotic mesophase pitch into nanochannel alumina. Heating and chemical etching produces nanofibers with a unique “orthogonal” arrangement of graphene layers. Unlike conventional nanofibers and ‐tubes, the graphene planes lie transverse to the fiber axis, which reflects the equilibrium state for the discotic precursor confined to nanocylindrical geometry.