Preparation of carbon nanotubes by ethanol catalytic combustion technique using nickel salt as catalyst precursor

A simple growth technique of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by combustion of ethanol was developed. In the experiment, copper plate was employed as substrate, nickel nitrate (Ni(NO3)2) and nickel chloride (NiCl2) as catalyst precursor, and ethanol as carbon source. The cleaned copper substrate was dipped into catalyst precursor solution for mounting catalyst precursor particles. The dip-coated substrate was then placed into ethanol flame for about 10 min after drying. The black wool-like production grown on copper plate was obtained. This route is called an ethanol catalytic combustion(ECC) process. The black powders were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer(EDS) and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the techique is much simpler and more economical to meet the future broader applications.