Journal article
Fast growth of carbon nanotubes using a microwave oven
Carbon, Vol.82, pp.327-336
Feb/2015
Abstract
Extremely fast growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), within just 5 s, was achieved by a facile microwave (MW) assisted heating technique, under ambient conditions. A mixture of graphite, ferrocene and carbon fiber was used as the precursor material. Growth characteristics were examined using different compositions of the precursor and MW powers. Both graphite and carbon fiber were found to be necessary for achieving fast growth of CNTs. MW heating of the precursor mixture at 100% power (1800 W) resulted in a yield of CNTs (26 +/- 5 wt%). Conversion efficiency of carbon from ferrocene to CNT at 100% MW power is about 82 wt% on average. When relative proportion of graphite in the mixture is high, yield decreases but conversion efficiency of carbon increases. Base growth mode is proposed as dominant growth process of the CNTs. Driven by the capillary effect of CNTs, catalyst particles are found to be encapsulated inside the tubes at different locations along their length. Solvent free, instant, easy, and cost effective growth process proposed here using ordinary MW oven is likely to be amenable to scale-up for industrial production of CNTs. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Details
- Title
- Fast growth of carbon nanotubes using a microwave oven
- Creators
- Reeti Bajpai (null) - The Weizmann Institute of ScienceHanoch Daniel Wagner (Corresponding Author) - The Weizmann Institute of Science
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Carbon, Vol.82, pp.327-336; Feb/2015
- Number of pages
- 10
- Language
- English
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2014.10.077
- Grant note
- G.M.J. Schmidt Minerva Centre of Supramolecular Architectures; Livio Norzi Professorial Chair in Materials Science The authors would like to acknowledge Mr. Konstantin Livanov for his kind help with the microwave experiments. We acknowledge support from the G.M.J. Schmidt Minerva Centre of Supramolecular Architectures. This research was made possible in part by the generosity of the Harold Perlman family. H.D.W. is the recipient of the Livio Norzi Professorial Chair in Materials Science._ALMAME_DELIMITER_
- Record Identifier
- 993263047403596
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