Radiation-Induced Synthesis of Carbon Nanostructures

Irradiation of carbon with energetic particles or radiation sources has drawn a significant amount of attention as an attractive alternative and versatile approach used for the fabrication of different useful forms of carbon nanostructures, including the metastable forms of carbon, for instance, quenched carbon (Q-carbon) and diamond, with enhanced controllability. Various methods of inducing radiation have been demonstrated to be an effective strategy in the nanoengineering modification of the properties and structure of carbon and carbon-based materials by tuning the structural and bonding characteristics at the atomic level. Among them, the most notable are ion irradiation, laser vaporization, laser annealing, gamma irradiation, electron irradiation, microwave irradiation, and particle irradiation. A small change in the synthesis approaches of carbon nanostructures through these irradiation-based techniques has a significant influence on tuning and optimizing the structural, morphological, and bonding characteristics, which have important roles in shaping the chemical, optical, electronic, thermal, and magnetic properties for an extensive range of applications. This chapter discusses the mechanisms for growth, property optimizations, and challenges related to the fabrication and transformation of different carbon nanostructures using different irradiation-based techniques, which include different conventional and nonconventional carbon materials, such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, reduced graphene oxide, Q-carbon, T-carbon, nano- and microdiamonds, carbon nanoparticles, and several nanostructures such as cages, nanorods, nanohorns, nanofibers, nanospheres, nanoonions, and nanoribbons. Besides the detailed discussion about synthesis and fabrication mechanisms, this chapter also includes a discussion on how each of these irradiation methods affects the properties of carbon nanostructures and assists in inducing intriguing properties into the already-existent forms of carbon.