Amorphous Al–Cu alloy nanowires decorated with carbon spheres synthesised from waste engine oil

Abstract

For the first time, amorphous aluminium–copper (Al–Cu) alloy nanowires decorated with carbon spheres (CS) were synthesised from waste engine oil (WEO) as a starting material. The synthesis process was carried out in two-stage thermal chemical vapour deposition system under typical synthesis condition of 5.33wt% ferrocene as catalyst, precursor and synthesis temperature of 450 and 700°C, respectively. Metal contaminants of Al and Cu in WEO promote the growth of amorphous Al–Cu alloy nanowires and high carbon content in WEO undeniable promotes the growth of CS. Field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that the amorphous Al–Cu alloy nanowires dimension was about 120nm in diameter and a few micrometres in length, while the diameter of CS were a few hundred nanometre to micrometre-sized. X-ray diffraction pattern of amorphous Al–Cu alloy nanowires revealed the formation of different Al–Cu phases. This study offers a new and simple technique to synthesise amorphous Al–Cu alloy nanowires decorated with CS from waste material namely WEO. The newly produced nanomaterials open up potential application in energy storage devices.