A comparative study of alcohols and ketones as carbon precursor for multi-walled carbon nanotube growth

A comparative study of the growth of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) from the vapors of methanal, 2-propanone, ethanol, 2-butanone, and 2-propanol was carried out aiming at detecting the role of the carbon source in the quality of the nanotubes. The growth was carried out with a catalyst mixture of Mn and Co salts impregnated in zeolite powder, using a fixed-bed reactor under atmospheric pressure at a temperature of 600 °C. The samples were characterized by High-resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and thermal analysis. Both the presence of amorphous carbon in the raw sample and the structural characteristics of the MWCNTs depend on the kind of solvent employed in the growth. The role of CH3 and OH radicals in the MWCNT obtained in this work was determined. Acetone (2-propanone) was found to be the best solvent for the preparation of MWCNTs.