Diatom-frustule catalyst supported multiwalled carbon nanotubes: Scalable and cost-effective synthesis and stable anode for lithium-ion battery

Abstract

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes have interesting electrochemical properties that can be utilized for the energy storage application. However, the practical application of multiwalled carbon nanotubes is limited by the current techniques to provide large scale production. So, the large scale production of multiwalled carbon nanotubes is obtained by catalytic chemical vapor deposition of acetylene/liquified petroleum gas on diatom supported Mischmetal based nickel alloy catalyst. The developed multiwalled carbon nanotubes are uniform in diameter and the method of production does not require any process of purification. The multiwalled carbon nanotubes along with the presence of diatom is used as the high capacity anode for the lithium-ion battery. The interaction of lithium ions with both multiwalled carbon nanotubes and diatom increases the specific capacity to 1090 mAh g−1 at 0.05 A g−1 with cyclic durability of 2000 cycles. This work demonstrates a scalable method for the production of multiwalled carbon nanotubes from a cost-effective catalyst with the benefit of utilizing it as a high capacity anode material for lithium-ion battery.