Synthesis of uniform carbon nanotubes by chemical vapor infiltration method using SBA-15 mesoporous silica as template

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely studied for the past decade owing to their practical applications in a variety of different areas [1-5]. Various attempts have been made to manipulate the physical properties of CNTs using different strategies and synthesis conditions [6-10]. For example, by using anodic aluminum oxides (AAOs) as template, Yuan et al. [11] have demonstrated that CNTs with tunable diameters can be synthesized with modest yield using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. In view of the recent advances in routine synthesis of mesoporous silica materials that possess welldefined pore structure with uniform and tunable pore size (5-50 nm), this study aims to employ mesoporous silica SBA-15 [ 12] as support to incorporate metal (Fe) catalyst with controlled particle size to fabricate CNTs with uniform diameter and improved production yield by chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) method [13]. In addition, the morphologies, structural and physical properties, and product yields of CNTs fabricated by two supported Fe/SBA-15 catalysts respectively prepared by using co-precipitation and impregnation methods, were compared and discussed.