Arc discharge | High crystallization,low defect density carbon onions prepared in bulk quantities using an arc in water | Containing a large amount of carbonaceous impurities such as amorphous carbon, CNTs, CNT-like structures, graphitic debris, and metallic impurities |
Plasma | Low cost and prepared in bulk quantities | Containing amorphous carbon and metallic impurities |
Electron-beam radiation | In-situ observations achieved helpful to study the growth mechanism of OLC | High cost and low yield |
Chemical vapor deposition | Simple, cheap, easy to implement and to realize mass production | Purification to remove amorphous carbon, CNTs, graphite, catalyst support, etc |
Nanodiamond annealing in vacuum | Narrow-sized distribution and produced in massive amount | Requiring nanodiamond precursor and high-temperature vacuum oven |
Thermolysis | Massive amount of carbon onions produced at low cost by using simple device | Larger size CNOs and/or purification requirement |