Acceleration of graphitization on carbon nanofibers prepared from bacteria cellulose dispersed in ethanol

Bacteria cellulose is composed of pure cellulose nanofibrils with about 30–60 nm width. The original conglomerate of bacteria cellulose was dispersed in ethanol or distilled water and filtered, and paper like sheets were prepared. The conglomerate itself and the sheets were carbonized and then heat-treated at 3100 °C. The development of graphite structure by the heat treatment was observed for these sheets, especially for that derived from the nanofibrils dispersed in ethanol, while the heat-treated conglomerate exhibited the nature of nongraphitizing carbon. The difference in graphitizability seems to be attributed to graphitization behavior on the surface of nongraphitizing carbon.