A study on synthesis of carbon nanotubes from liquefied petroleum gas by chemical vapour deposition

Abstract

In the present paper, the synthesis of carbon nanotubes from liquefied petroleum gas by chemical vapour deposition with the catalyst of Fe/SiO₂ was showed. The morphology and tube diameter of carbon nanotubes depended on factors such as the flow of initial gases (H₂ and LPG) and growth temperature that were investigated, repectively. The obtained CNTs was characterized by XRD, EDX, SEM, TEM and BET analyses. The results indicated that the synthesis process at 700^oC for 2 hours with the volume ratio of H₂:LPG = 1.75:1 (140 mL.min^-1 of H₂ and 80 mL.min^-1 of LPG) was suitable for forming the material exhibitting nano-sized tubes. The multiwalled structure was obtained and the tubes were long and identical with external diameter of 52 nm and BET surface area of 93 m².g^-1