Patent ID: 7858691

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a carbon nanomaterial, comprising, forming an initial precursor mixture comprising a carbon precursor and a plurality of templating nanoparticles, the templating nanoparticles comprising a catalytic metal; polymerizing the carbon precursor to form a polymerized precursor mixture; carbonizing the polymerized precursor mixture to form an intermediate carbon material comprising a plurality of carbon nanostructures, amorphous carbon, and optionally remaining catalytic metal; purifying the intermediate carbon material by removing at least a portion of the amorphous carbon and optionally a portion of any remaining catalytic metal to yield an at least partially purified intermediate carbon nanomaterial comprising the carbon nanostructures; and treating the at least partially purified intermediate carbon nanomaterial using a severe oxidative treatment to introduce oxygen-containing functional groups to the graphitic material of the carbon nanomaterial, wherein the severe oxidative treatment introduces at least 10 wt % oxygen to the surface of the carbon nanostructures, as measured using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).