Abstract
A systematic study on the morphological changes experienced by multi-wall carbon nanotubes during long-time ball milling in a vibrating mill was performed. Samples were collected in the time interval 0–200 h and analyzed with TEM and N 2 adsorption. The change of the mean nanotube length with time could be approximated with a second-order exponential decay function. The length distribution function changed from the original log-normal to normal after 140 h of milling. Specific surface area, surface fractal dimension, the dimension of the capillary condensation and the pore size distribution (PSD) curve were calculated from the N 2 adsorption isotherms. These morphological descriptors all experienced characteristic changes after ∼40 h of milling: the specific surface area decreased, the fractal dimension increased and the maximum of the PSD curve shifted downwards by ∼0.5 nm. Results indicate that ball milling of carbon nanotubes is a rather complex process and that it can cause several morphological changes to samples besides the well-known cutting effect.
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