cm061528r_si_001.pdf (2 MB)
Synthesis of High-Purity Few-Walled Carbon Nanotubes from Ethanol/Methanol Mixture
journal contribution
posted on 2006-11-28, 00:00 authored by Hang Qi, Cheng Qian, Jie LiuFew-walled carbon nanotubes (FWNTs) can be synthesized in a simple chemical vapor deposition
(CVD) system using ethanol as the carbon source. However, the raw materials always contain a significant
amount of impurities due to decomposition of ethanol molecules on the catalyst support, which makes
the purification difficult, resulting in a low yield of purified nanotubes. Here, we report that with use of
an ethanol/methanol mixture as the carbon source, FWNTs with high purity can be prepared. Through a
simple purification process, highly pure FWNTs can be obtained. A systematic study of the effect of
ethanol/methanol ratio revealed the origin for the improved purity of the sample. Under the growth
conditions studied, ethanol acted as the carbon source while methanol acted as “carbonaceous impurity
remover” to remove the impurities deposited on the MgO support and hindered the formation of such
impurities.