Optimisation of the arc-discharge production of multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract The effect of varying current density and pressure during arc generation on the yield and purity of multi-walled nanotube-containing carbon soot has been studied in this work. Various soots were produced and characterised qualitatively using transmission electron microscopy and quantitatively using electron paramagnetic resonance and thermogravimetric analysis. It was found that both yield and purity increase as current density and pressure are increased to the limit of our experimental investigations, i.e. 195 A/cm 2 and 500 Torr of helium. Under these conditions a yield of 24 mg/min soot containing 48% by mass nanotubes was obtained.

[1]  T. Ebbesen,et al.  Patterns in the bulk growth of carbon nanotubes , 1993 .

[2]  S. Iijima.  Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon , 1991, Nature.

[3]  Alfons Penzkofer,et al.  Laser action in poly (m-phenylenevinylene-co-2,5-dioctoxy-p-phenylenevinylene)† , 1996 .

[4]  T. Ichihashi,et al.  Opening carbon nanotubes with oxygen and implications for filling , 1993, Nature.

[5]  S. Tans,et al.  Room-temperature transistor based on a single carbon nanotube , 1998, Nature.

[6]  M. Terrones,et al.  Condensed-phase nanotubes , 1995, Nature.

[7]  Werner J. Blau,et al.  Optimal polymer characteristics for nanotube solubility , 2001 .

[8]  Werner J. Blau,et al.  Measurement of nanotube content in pyrolytically generated carbon soot , 2000 .

[9]  Milo S. P. Shaffer,et al.  Development of a dispersion process for carbon nanotubes in an epoxy matrix and the resulting electrical properties , 1999 .

[10]  Angel Rubio,et al.  Phase separation of carbon nanotubes and turbostratic graphite using a functional organic polymer , 2000 .

[11]  J. Coleman,et al.  A carbon nanotube composite as an electron transport layer for M3EH-PPV based light-emitting diodes , 2001 .

[12]  C. B. Carter,et al.  Growth and Sintering of Fullerene Nanotubes , 1994, Science.

[13]  Pulickel M. Ajayan,et al.  Nanometer‐Size Tubes of Carbon , 1998 .

[14]  Linda S. Schadler,et al.  LOAD TRANSFER IN CARBON NANOTUBE EPOXY COMPOSITES , 1998 .

[15]  Pulickel M. Ajayan,et al.  Nanometre-size tubes of carbon , 1997 .

[16]  Young Hee Lee,et al.  Fully sealed, high-brightness carbon-nanotube field-emission display , 1999 .

[17]  A. Rinzler,et al.  Self-assembly of tubular fullerenes , 1995 .

[18]  P. Ajayan,et al.  Large-scale synthesis of carbon nanotubes , 1992, Nature.

[19]  Malcolm L. H. Green,et al.  Thinning and opening of carbon nanotubes by oxidation using carbon dioxide , 1993, Nature.

[20]  A. Rinzler,et al.  Carbon nanotube actuators , 1999, Science.

[21]  W. Krätschmer,et al.  Solid C60: a new form of carbon , 1990, Nature.

[22]  Werner J. Blau,et al.  Electron paramagnetic resonance as a quantitative tool for the study of multiwalled carbon nanotubes , 2000 .

[23]  P. Lambin,et al.  Synthesis of single- and multi-wall carbon nanotubes over supported catalysts , 1998 .

[24]  Michael A. Wilson,et al.  Competitive Reactions During Plasma Arcing of Carbonaceous Materials , 1995 .

[25]  Enhanced brightness in organic light-emitting diodes using a carbon nanotube composite as an electron-transport layer , 2001 .