Utilization of compressed natural gas for the production of carbon nanotubes

The present work aims at utilizing compressed natural gas (CNG) as carbon source for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) over CoO-MoO/Al2O3 catalyst via catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) method. The as-produced carbonaceous product was characterized by thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy. The experimental finding shows that CNTs were successfully produced from CNG while carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were formed as the side products. In addition, the catalytic activity and lifetime were found sustained and prolonged, as compared with using high purity methane as carbon source. The present study suggests an alternative route which can effectively produce CNTs and CNFs using low cost CNG.