Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T11:00:42.269Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Continuous synthesis of multiwalled carbon nanotubes from xylene using the swirled floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition technique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

Clarence S. Yah ,
Sunny E. Iyuke ,
Geoffrey S. Simate ,
Emmanuel I. Unuabonah ,
Graham Bathgate ,
George Matthews  and
John D. Cluett
Clarence S. Yah*
Affiliation:
Biochemistry & Toxicology Section, National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Johannesburg, South Africa
Sunny E. Iyuke
Affiliation:
School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits 2050, South Africa
Geoffrey S. Simate
Affiliation:
School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits 2050, South Africa
Emmanuel I. Unuabonah
Affiliation:
College of Natural Sciences, Department of Chemical Sciences, Redeemer’s University, Redemption City, Mowe, Nigeria
Graham Bathgate
Affiliation:
School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits 2050, South Africa
George Matthews
Affiliation:
School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits 2050, South Africa
John D. Cluett
Affiliation:
School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits 2050, South Africa
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

This work reports the continuous and large-scale production of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) from xylene/ferrocene in a swirled floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition reactor using argon as the carrier gas. The concentration of ferrocene used was 0.01 g/mL of xylene. In every run, 50-mL xylene gas was used together with xylene/ferrocene mixture injected into the reactor by means of a burette. The MWCNTs produced were characterized using the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectra. TEM analysis showed a poor production rate at 850 °C and a good production in the range of 900–1000 °C with optimal production rate at 950 °C. Furthermore, xylene/ferrocene mixture produced more MWCNTs at 950 °C with H:Ar (1:7) as the carrier gas. The diameters of the MWCNTs in the temperatures studied ranged from 15 to 95 nm with wall thicknesses between 0.5 and 0.8 nm.

Keywords

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) (deposition)NanostructureTransmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 26 , Issue 5 , 14 March 2011 , pp. 640 - 644
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Iijima, S.: Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon. Nature 354, 56 (1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Baughman, R.H., Zakhidov, A.A., and de Heer, W.A.: Carbon nanotubes the route toward applications. Science 297, 787 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Milne, W.I., Teo, K.B.K., Amaratunga, G.A.J., Legagneux, P., Gangloff, L., Schnell, J.P., Semet, V., Thien, V.B., and Groening, O.: Carbon nanotubes as field emission sources. J. Mater. Chem. 14, 933 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Ericson, L.M., Fan, H., Peng, H., Davis, V.A., Zhou, W., Sulpizio, J., Wang, Y., Booker, R., Vavro, J., Guthy, C., Parra-Vasquez, A.N.G., Kim, M.J., Ramesh, S., Saini, R.K., Kittrell, C., Lavin, G., Schmidt, H., Adams, W.W., Billups, W.E., Pasquali, M., Hwang, W-F., Hauge, R.H., Fischer, J.E., and Smalley, R.E.: Macroscopic, neat, single-walled carbon nanotube fibers. Science 305, 1447 (2004).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Mi, W., Lin, J.Y., Mao, Q., Li, Y., and Zhang, B.: A Study on the effects of carrier gases on the structure and morphology of carbon nanotubes prepared by pyrolysis of ferrocene and C2H2 mixture. J. Nat. Gas Chem. 14, 151 (2005).Google Scholar
6.Wei, R., Li, F., and Ju, Y.: Preparation of carbon nanotubes from methane on Ni/Cu/Al catalyst. J. Nat. Gas Chem. 14, 176 (2005).Google Scholar
7.Qiu, J., Li, Q., Wang, Z., Sun, Y., and Zhang, H.: CVD synthesis of coal-gas-derived carbon nanotubes and nanocapsules containing magnetic iron carbide and oxide. Carbon 44, 2565 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Sharma, S.P. and Lakkad, S.C.: Morphology study of carbon nanospecies grown on carbon fibers by thermal CVD technique. Surf. Coat. Technol. 203, 1329 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Iyuke, S.E., Mamvura, T.A., Liu, K., Sibanda, V., Meyyappan, M., and Varadan, V.K.: Process synthesis and optimization for the production of carbon nanostructures. Nanotechnology 20 (2009, DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/20/37/375602).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Couteau, E., Hernadi, K., Seo, J.W., Thiên-Nga, L., Cs Mikó, R., Gaál, R., and Ferró, L.: CVD synthesis of high purity multiwalled carbon nanotubes using CaCO3 catalyst support for large-scale production. Chem. Phys. Lett. 378, 9 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Gulino, G., Vieira, R., Amadou, J., Nguyena, P., Ledoux, M.J., Galvagno, S., Centi, G., and Pham-Huu, C.: C2H6 as an active carbon source for a large scale synthesis of carbon nanotubes by chemical vapor deposition. Appl. Catal., A 279, 89 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Mionic, M., Alexander, D.T.L., Ferró, L., and Magrez, A.: Influence of the catalyst drying process and catalyst support particle size on the carbon nanotubes produced by CCVD. Phys. Status Solidi B 245, 1915 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Varadan, V.K. and Xie, J.: Large scale synthesis of multi-walled carbon nanotubes by microwave CVD. Smart Mater. Struct. 11, 610 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Afolabi, A.S., Abdulkareem, A.S., Iyuke, S.E., and van Zyl Pienaar, H.C.: Continuous production of carbon nanotubes and diamond films by swirled floating catalyst chemical-vapor-deposition method. S. Afr. J. Sci. 105, 278 (2009).Google Scholar
15.Li, X., Zhang, X., Ci, L., Shah, R., Wolfe, C., Kar, S., Talapatra, S., and Ajayan, P.M.: Air-assisted growth of ultra-long carbon nanotube bundles. Nanotechnology 19, (2008, DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/19/45/455609).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Sinnott, S.B., Andrews, R., Qian, D., Rao, A.M., Mao, Z., Dickey, E.C., and Derbyshire, F.: Model of carbon nanotube growth through chemical vapor deposition. Chem. Phys. Lett. 315, 25 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Kunadian, I., Andrews, R., Mengüç, M.P., and Qian, D.: Multiwalled carbon nanotube deposition profiles within a CVD reactor: An experimental study. Chem. Eng. Sci. 64, 1503 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Kim, K.E., Kim, K.J., Jung, W.S., Bae, S.Y., Park, J., Choi, J., and Choo, J.: Investigation on the temperature-dependent growth rate of carbon nanotubes using chemical vapor deposition of ferrocene and acetylene. Chem. Phys. Lett. 401, 459 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Yu, Z., Chen, D., Totdalb, B., Zhao, T., Dai, Y., Yuan, W., and Holmen, A.: Catalytic engineering of carbon nanotube production. Appl. Catal., A 279, 223 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20.Jacques, D., Villain, S., Rao, A.M., Andrews, R., Derbyshire, F., Dickey, E.C., and Qian, D.: Synthesis of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Center for Applied Energy Research, University of Kentucky (2003): http://www.caer.uky.edu/.Google Scholar
21.Vivekchand, S.R.C., Cele, L.M., Deepak, F.L., Raju, A.R., and Govindaraj, A.: Carbon nanotubes by nebulized spray pyrolysis. Chem. Phys. Lett. 386, 313 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.Kuwana, K. and Saito, K.: Modeling ferrocene reactions and iron nanoparticle formation: Application to CVD synthesis of carbon nanotubes. Proc. Combust. Inst. 31, 1857 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar