Chemical Industry and Chemical Engineering Quarterly (Oct 2009)

thesis of high-purity carbon nanotubes over alumina and silica supported bimetallic catalysts

  • Sanja Ratković,
  • Goran Bošković,
  • Erne Kiss

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 4
pp. 263 – 270

Abstract

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Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were synthesized by a catalytic chemical vapor deposition method (CCVD) of ethylene over alumina and silica supported bimetallic catalysts based on Fe, Co and Ni. The catalysts were prepared by a precipitation method, calcined at 600 °C and in situ reduced in hydrogen flow at 700 °C. The CNTs growth was carried out by a flow the mixture of C2H4 and nitrogen over the catalyst powder in a horizontal oven. The structure and morphology of as-synthesized CNTs were characterized using SEM. The as-synthesized nanotubes were purified by acid and basic treatments in order to remove impurities such as amorphous carbon, graphite nanoparticles and metal catalysts. XRD and DTA/TG analyses showed that the amounts of by-products in the purified CNTs samples were reduced significantly. According to the observed results, ethylene is an active carbon source for growing high-density CNTs with high yield but more on alumina-supported catalysts than on their silica- supported counterparts. The last might be explained by SMSI formed in the case of alumina-supported catalysts, resulting in higher active phase dispersion.

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