Amorphous Al-Cu alloy nanowires decorated with carbon spheres synthesised from waste engine oil

For the first time, amorphous aluminium-copper (Al-Cu) alloy nanowires decorated with carbon spheres (CS) were synthesised from waste engine oil (WEO) as a starting material. The synthesis process was carried out in two-stage thermal chemical vapour deposition system under typical synthesis condition of 5.33 wt% ferrocene as catalyst, precursor and synthesis temperature of 450 and 700 °C, respectively. Metal contaminants of Al and Cu in WEO promote the growth of amorphous Al-Cu alloy nanowires and high carbon content in WEO undeniable promotes the growth of CS. Field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that the amorphous Al-Cu alloy nanowires dimension was about 120 nm in diameter and a few micrometres in length, while the diameter of CS were a few hundred nanometre to micrometre-sized. X-ray diffraction pattern of amorphous Al-Cu alloy nanowires revealed the formation of different Al-Cu phases. This study offers a new and simple technique to synthesise amorphous Al-Cu alloy nanowires decorated with CS from waste material namely WEO. The newly produced nanomaterials open up potential application in energy storage devices.