Effect of different carbon sources on the growth of single-walled carbon nanotube from MCM-41 containing nickel

Yuan Chen*, Bo Wang, Lain Jong Li, Yanhui Yang, Dragos Ciuparu, Sangyun Lim, Gary L. Haller, Lisa D. Pfefferle

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Chemical vapor deposition growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) was studied using three representative carbon source sources: CO, ethanol, and methane, and a catalyst of Ni ions incorporated in MCM-41. The resulting SWCNTs were compared for similar reaction conditions. Carbon deposits were analyzed by multi-excitation wavelength Raman, TGA, TEM and AFM. Catalytic particles in the Ni-MCM-41 catalysts were characterized by TEM and synchrotron light source X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Under similar synthesis conditions, SWCNTs produced from CO had a relatively smaller diameter, while those from ethanol had a larger diameter. Methane could not produce SWCNTs on Ni-MCM-41 under the conditions used in this research. These results demonstrate that three carbon sources affect the dynamic balances between metallic cluster formation and carbon deposition/precipitation on the metallic cluster surface. Controlling SWCNT diameter relies on precisely regulating this dynamic process. Using different carbon sources we are able to shift this dynamic balance and produce SWCNTs with different mean diameters.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2217-2228
Number of pages12
JournalCarbon
Volume45
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2007
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We are grateful for the financial support from US DoE-BES for this project, and the use of the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory. We also thank Sang Nyon Kim and Professor Fotios Papadimitrakopoulos at University of Connecticut for the access to the multi-excitation wavelength Raman instrument; Professor Liwei Chen at Ohio University for the access to the AFM measurement. We also thank reviewers for useful comments. This work was also supported in part by the start-up fund of Nanyang Technological University and by the PD22 Grant funded by the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science

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