Parametric investigation of CNT deposition on cement by CVD process

• CNTs deposited on the cement particles by CVD process.
• C2H2 and Ar gas were used as carbon supply and carrier gas respectively.
• The reaction temperature, time and catalyst proportion are vital issue that affect on the CNTs content and size.
• The bamboo structure of CNTs can be attributed to atomic nitrogen originated from N2 pollution within the Ar gas or remaining atomic nitrogen from iron nitrate salt at substrate.

In this study, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were synthesized on Fe Catalyst/Portland cement substrate using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The effect of synthesis parameters including reaction temperature, synthesis time and catalyst weight percentage on the characteristics of CNTs were investigated. In this regard, FE-SEM and TEM images were applied to characterize size and morphology of CNTs. Phase identification of cement compounds and catalyst particle sizes at different temperatures were studied using XRD. Finally the relation between the abundance of CNTs and synthesis time was investigated by TGA. Experimental results show that the average diameter and yield of CNTs increases with increasing the reaction temperature, synthesis time and catalysts contents.