Growth of carbon nanotubes from heterometallic palladium and copper catalysts

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Date
2010-04-19
Authors
O'Byrne, Justin P.
Li, Zhonglai
Tobin, Joseph M.
Larsson, J. Andreas
Larsson, Peter
Ahuja, Rajeev
Holmes, Justin D.
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Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)
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Research Projects
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Abstract
Bamboo-structured carbon nanotubes (BCNTs) were synthesized with MgO-supported Pd and Cu catalysts, doped with either Mo or W, by the catalytic chemical vapor decomposition of methane. No nanotubes were observed to grow from the catalysts in the absence of the dopant metals. Additionally, the level of dopant in the catalysts was found to strongly affect the morphology of carbon produced. Amorphous carbon was generated on a 10 wt % Cu/5 wt % W (2:1) catalyst, while BCNTs were produced on 20 wt % Cu/5 wt % W (4:1) and a 30 wt % Cu/5 wt % W (6:1) catalysts. A pure Pd catalyst produced carbon nanofibres (CNFs), while BCNTs were able to grow from Pd/Mo catalysts. Density functional theory simulations show that the composite Cu/W and Pd/Mo bimetallic particles which generated BCNTs have similar binding energies to carbon, and comparable to metals such as Fe, Co, and Ni which are traditionally used to grow CNTs by chemical vapor deposition.
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Keywords
Carbon nanotubes , Amorphous carbon , Binding energy , Carbon nanofibers , Catalysts , Density functional theory , Doping (additives) , Metallic compounds , Methane , Palladium , Synthesis (chemical)
Citation
O’Byrne, J. P., Li, Z., Tobin, J. M., Larsson, J. A., Larsson, P., Ahuja, R. and Holmes, J. D. (2010) 'Growth of Carbon Nanotubes from Heterometallic Palladium and Copper Catalysts', The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 114(18), pp. 8115-8119. doi: 10.1021/jp909309t
Copyright
© 2010 American Chemical Society. This document is the unedited Author’s version of a Submitted Work that was subsequently accepted for publication in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review. To access the final edited and published work see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jp909309t