Catalyst free low temperature synthesis and antioxidant activity of multiwalled carbon nanotubes accessed from ghee, clarified butter of cow׳s milk

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been synthesized at low temperature on silicon substrates in a thermal chemical vapor reactor from ghee, clarified butter from cow׳s milk as the carbon source without using any catalyst. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analyses revealed bundles of micrometer long MWCNTs with an interlayer separation of 0.33 nm consisting of 25 concentric graphene sheets with outer and inner diameters of 27.45 and 13.68 nm, respectively. The powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern showed a hexagonal structure of graphitic carbon with average crystallite size of 4.6 nm. The MWCNTs exhibited pronounced antioxidant activity.