Mass Production of Carbon Nanofibers on Water Soluble Support

Abstract

Mass production of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) on a water soluble support has been achieved by chemical vapor deposition method. Carbon nanofibers have been synthesized using metal (Ni, Co, Fe) acetate as catalyst precursors at 680°C. Upon pyrolysis this catalyst yields metal nanoparticles directly. The sodium chloride was used as catalyst support, it was chosen because of its non toxic and water soluble nature. The problems such as detrimental effect, environment and even cost has been avoided by using water soluble support. The structure of the products was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction method. The purity of as grown products and purified products was determined by thermal analysis. The yield of CNFs was up to 7500 wt% relative to the nickel catalyst have been achieved in the growth time of 15 mins. The advantage of this synthesis technique is the simplicity and use of easily available low cost precursors.