Carbide nanofibrils and method of making same

A plurality of Q-based carbide nanofibrils predominantly having diameters in the range of about 5-20 nm where Q is an element selected from the group consisting of boron, titanium, tantalum, niobium, zirconium, halfnium, molybdenum and tungsten and wherein said nanofibrils are predominantly unfused to one another.

A method of making a plurality of Q-based carbide nanofibrils predominantly having diameters substantially less than about 100 nm, comprising the steps of:

• heating a plurality of carbon nanotubes or nanofibrils predominantly having diameters less than about 50 nm in a reaction chamber in the presence of a Q-based gas of the form QnAm, where A is an element or radical, Q is an element selected from the group consisting of boron, titanium, tantalum, niobium, zirconium, halfnium, molybdenum and tungsten, and n and m are integers necessary to satisfy valences, and an inert gas in a reaction vessel to a temperature substantially less than 1700° C. but sufficiently high to cause substantial reaction of said Q-based gas with the carbon of said carbon nanotubes or nanofibrils to form, in situ, solid Q-based carbide nanofibrils and a A-based gas, said temperature being sufficiently low to prevent substantial fusing together of individual ones of said carbide nanofibrils,
• removing at least a portion of said A-based gas from said reaction chamber as said reaction progresses, and
• maintaining said temperature until substantially all the carbon of said nanotubes or nanofibrils has been converted into Q-based carbide nanofibrils wherein the increased diameter of said carbide nanofibrils is no more than about double that of the carbon nanotubes or nanofibrils from which they were made.

A plurality of Q-based carbide nanofibrils pseudo-topotactically grown from a plurality of carbon nanotubes or nanofibrils having a macroscopic morphology, said carbide nanofibrils predominantly having diameters in the range of about 5-20 nm and being predominantly unfused to each other, where Q is an element selected from the group consisting of boron, titanium, tantalum, niobium, zirconium, halfnium, molybdenum and tungsten.