Abstract
This work aimed to observe the performance of a fluidized bed reactor which was equipped with a cyclone in the synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNT) by chemical vapor deposition. Liquefied petroleum gas with a constant volumetric flow rate of 1940 cm3/minutes was fed to the reactor as a carbon source, while a combination of metal components of Fe-Co-Mo supported on MgO was used as catalyst. The CNT synthesis was carried out at a reaction temperature which was maintained at around 800 – 850 °C for 1 hour. The CNT yield was decreased sharply when the catalyst feed was increased. The carbon efficiency is directly proportional to the mass of catalyst fed. It was found from the experiment that the mass of as-grown CNT increased in proportion to the increase of the catalyst mass fed. A sharp increase of the mass percentage of carbon nanotubes entrainment happened when the catalyst feed was raised from 3 to 7 grams. Agglomerates of carbon nanotubes have been formed. The agglomerates composed of mutually entangled carbon nanotubes which have an outer diameter range 8 – 14 nm and an inner diameter range 4 – 10 nm, which confirmed that the multi-walled carbon nanotubes were formed in this synthesis. It was found that the mesopores dominate the pore structure of the CNT product and contribute more than 90 % of the total pore volume.
Highlights
In the development of nanotechnology, carbon nanotubes (CNT) lately have become a particular concern of researchers and industrial communities
We present the performance of a fluidized bed reactor which is equipped with a cyclone in synthesizing carbon nanotubes by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method
It can be seen that a sharp decrease in the CNT yield occurs when the catalyst feed was increased, that is from 3.61 g CNT/g catalyst at 3 grams catalyst feeding to 1.88 g CNT/g catalyst at 7 grams catalyst feeding
Summary
In the development of nanotechnology, carbon nanotubes (CNT) lately have become a particular concern of researchers and industrial communities. Based on the way how the energy source is introduced, three methods of synthesizing carbon nanotubes which have been widely developed are arc discharge, laser ablation and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [3]. The structure of the carbon nanotubes includes the wall number, diameter, length, orientation, and alignment, can be controlled by setting the reaction parameters during the growth of the carbon nanotubes [7]. Various carbon sources such as CH4, CO, H2/CO, C2H2, C2H4, and C6H6 have been widely used for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes by CVD method [8,9]
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