Carbon nanotubes synthesis using Fe-Co-Mo/MgO tri-metallic catalyst: study the effect of reaction temperature, reaction time and catalyst weight

Abstract

MgO supported tri-metallic catalyst containing combination of transition metals Fe, Co, and Mo was used to synthesise carbon nanotubes (CNT) from liquefied petroleum gas by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method. The effect of reaction temperature, reaction time and catalyst weight to the yield and the CNT properties was investigated. It found that the CNT yield increased with increasing the reaction temperature. Besides, increasing the reaction temperature lead to the increase of the diameter and wall thickness of the CNT. Moreover, it was found that the crystallinity of the synthesised CNT increase when the reaction temperature is raised. The meso pores dominate the pore structure of the CNT product and contribute around 90% of the total pores volume. Meanwhile, micro pores with pore size range around 0.3–0.4 nm dominate the micro pores and contribute approximately 50–60% of the total micro pores volume. It also found that the CNT yield is decreased along with the increasing catalyst weight.