US Patent 8202817 - Nanohorn aggregate

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8202817.html

Sumio Iijima of NEC is most famous for his analysis of carbon nanotube structures in the early 1990's but his most recent patents involve another carbon nanostructure called nanohorns for use as catalysts in fuel cells. This latest patent covers nanohorns supported on petal-shaped graphene sheets. Claim 1 reads:

1. A nanocarbon aggregate comprising:

a graphite aggregate including one or a plurality of graphene sheets and having a petal shape as a whole; and

a plurality of nanohorns supported on said petal-shaped graphite aggregate.