The Growth of Bamboo-Structured Carbon Tubes Using a Copper Catalyst

Abstract

ABSTRACTCatalytic decomposition of methane has been used to grow bamboo-structured carbon tubes at temperatures ranging from 1233 K to 1291 K. No tube growth was observed at temperatures less than 1233 K, whilst above 1291 K pyrocarbon was the dominant product. It is shown that the average size of the copper catalyst particles was influenced by the reaction temperature, with the reciprocal of the maximum size of the copper particle decreasing linearly with temperature. This is consistent with the idea that the melting point can be reduced by surface energy effects. Observations show that under the conditions here the catalyst particle penetrates into the carbon fibre and a mechanism is proposed for development of the bamboo structure based upon the energy changes that take place.