Image: During the building process, the so-called sacrificial template, a crystallised zinc oxide (white), is "sacrificed" when hydrogen is given into the process. Steam and Zinc leak out, the tubes of Aerographite remain. © TUHH

From this material, the scientists from Kiel made a kind of pill. In it, the zinc-oxide formed micro and nano structues, so called tetrapods. These interweave and construct a stable entity of particles that form the porous pill. In that way, the tetrapods produce the network that is the basis for Aerographite. In a next step, the pill is positioned into the reactor for chemical vapour deposition at TUHH and heated up to 760° Celsius (1,400° F).

"In a streaming gas atmosphere that is enriched with carbon, the zinc oxide is being equipped with a graphite coating of only a few atomic layers. This forms the tanged-web structures of the Aerographite. Simultaneously, hydrogen is introduced. It reacts with the oxygen in the zinc oxide and results in the emission of steam and zinc gas," continues Schulte. The remains are the characteristic interwoven, tube-like carbon structure.