Abstract: Carbon nanofibers were synthesized by catalytic pyrolysis of acetylene on Ni-coated alumina flakes at 450-800℃. SEM and TEM observations indicated that the diameters and structure of carbon nanofibers were strongly affected by temperatures, the carbon nanofibers synthesized at 550℃ had a coil-like shape, while the products obtained at 700℃ contained many plateletstacked nanofibers. A growth model was proposed to explain the structure of the platelet-stacked nanofibers.

Key words: carbon nanofibers, catalytic pyrolysis, Ni-catalysts, acetylene