Scaled-up prototype of carbon nanotube production system utilizing waste cooking palm oil precursor and its nanocomposite application as supercapacitor electrodes

Abstract

A simple approach has been introduced for the first time for a scaled-up prototype of a carbon nanotube (CNT) production system by utilizing waste cooking palm oil (WCPO) as carbon feedstock. A modified thermal chemical vapor deposition (TCVD) setup is equipped with a peristaltic sprayer to continuously supply the precursor and catalyst into the system. A total amount of 1000 ml WCPO precursor was sprayed continuously during the experiment with 5.33 wt% ferrocene as catalyst at a flow rate of 30 ml/min. A total of ~433 g CNT were produced with a high carbon conversion rate of 56 %. The produced CNT were then characterized by using electron microscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Growth of dense CNT with a high purity of ~87 % and good crystallinity (ID/IG ratio ~0.47) occurred. A CNT/natural rubber-latex (NRL) nanocomposite was also prepared by using latex nanotechnology for supercapacitor application. The nanocomposite exhibited a good capacitance performance with a specific capacitance of 81.82 F/g. This study determined that a high production of CNT using modified TCVD method provided benefits for its utilization as composite material, especially CNT/NRL nanocomposite, for supercapacitor application.