Microwave-assisted Heating Method for Growth of Carbon Nanotubes on Nickel Foam

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes(CNTs) with uniform diameters and big length-diameter ratio were formedboth on the surface and the inner pores of nickel foam by microwave-assisted heating method, using nickel foam treated with HCl as catalyst precursor and auxiliary heating material, phenanthrene as the carbon source. The micro morphology and microstructure were characterized by SEM and XRD methods. Effect of the structure of nickel foam, concentration of HCl and micro-assisted heating time on the preparation of CNTs was studied, the mechanism for CNTs growth was also recommended. The results show that, when the concentration of HCl is 6mol·L-1, microwave-assisted heating time is 30s, the diameter of CNTs is around 30nm, the length is up to micrometer.

Keywords

• carbon nanotube
• nickel foam
• microwave-assisted heating
• growing mechanism