Features of obtaining the catalyst for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes

Abstract

In this paper, the features of obtaining a Co-Mo/Al2O3 catalyst to synthesize carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by thermal decomposition were studied. It was revealed that the duration of the pre-catalyst thermal decomposition stage in the process of developing a metal oxide system has a significant impact on its activity in the synthesis of carbon nanostructured materials by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). It was proved that an effective catalyst for CNTs synthesis can be obtained by through thermal decomposition of the pre – catalyst, without calcination of the metal oxide system. The use of the Co-Mo/Al2O3 catalyst, synthesized in such a way, in the CVD process makes it possible to reduce the cost of synthesized CNTs. Using scanning electron microscopy, it was shown that the size of the grains, and specific surface area of the formed Co-Mo/Al2O3 catalyst depend on the thermal treatment conditions of the pre-catalyst. Under the conditions for the implementation of the pre-catalyst thermal decomposition stage (temperature, volume, duration, etc.), it is possible to contro not only the characteristics of the resulting catalyst (specific surface area, efficiency), but also the characteristics of the CNTs (diameter, degree of defectiveness). In the course of experiments, the optimal modes of implementation of the method for obtaining the Co-Mo/Al2O3 catalyst allowed forming a system with a specific surface area of ~ 108 m2/g. The use of the resulting catalyst in the synthesis of nanostructured materials provides a high specific yield of multi-walled CNTs with a diameter of 8-20 nm and a degree of defectiveness of 0.97.