Effects of Catalysts on Carbon Nanofibers Synthesized by Ethanol Catalytic Combustion

Abstract

It is very important to study the effects of various factors on synthesis of carbon nanomaterials for controlled synthesis, which plays a significant role in realizing desired nanostructures or nanodevices for applications. In this report, we employed iron nitrate, cobalt nitrate, nickel nitrate, iron chloride, cobalt chloride and nickel chloride as catalyst precursors, and studied the effects of catalyst precursors on carbon nanofibers that were synthesized by ethanol catalytic combustion process. The as‐grown carbon deposits have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy for deep understanding. The experimental results suggested that the carbon deposits synthesized by employing iron salt, cobalt salt, and nickel salt as catalyst precursors had different unique characteristics, respectively.