Simplified synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotubes from a botanical hydrocarbon: Turpentine oil

Turpentine oil (C10H16), a botanical hydrocarbon, has been found to be an effective precursor of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs).Single-walled carbon nanotubes were prepared by catalytic decomposition of turpentine oil over well-dispersed metal particles supported on high silica Y-type zeolite at 850 °C by spray pyrolysis method with a reaction time 25 min. The concentration of the each metal species (Co and Fe) was 2.5 wt% each with respect to the total weight of the supported material. The as-grown SWNTs were characterized by SEM, TEM, TGA and Raman spectroscopy. TGA analysis shows that the purity of the as-grown nanotubes was around 57%. Raman spectroscopy reveals that as-grown nanotubes are well graphitized.