Carbon nanotube formation over plasma reduced Pd/HZSM-5

In this work, we reported a new plasma catalyst preparation method for carbon nanotube (CNT) formation. With this new method, argon glow discharge plasma was operated at room temperature and applied for the reduction of Pd/HZSM-5, instead of catalyst reduction thermally using hydrogen at elevated temperature. Such plasma reduced catalyst shows a high dispersion of metal particles. The multi-walled CNTs produced with this plasma reduced Pd/HZSM-5 exhibit structural graphene sheets in conical hollow shape, a typical structure observed in CNTs from catalytic methane decomposition. Some fiber fish bone type structures can be also observed. Compared to the hydrogen reduction (thermally), the reduction using argon plasma is feasible and effective for the preparation of catalyst for the CNTs formation. The glow discharge plasma catalyst reduction is very promising for the further development of green catalyst reduction technologies.