Issue 2, 2021

A novel purification method of activated carbon-supported carbon nanotubes using a mixture of Ca(OH)2 and KOH as the ablation agent

Abstract

Transition metals (Fe, Co, Ni) supported on activated carbons with different pore diameters (<2 nm, 10 nm, 50 nm) to synthesize carbon nanotubes (CNTS) are first investigated in this study. Through several characteristic analyses, Ni supported on 50 nm activated carbon is verified to be the most efficient catalyst among the samples for CNT growth. The optimum conditions for CNT growth are at a growth temperature of 750 °C with a reaction time of 45 min. Furthermore, a novel purification method for CNTs is proposed, in which KOH and Ca(OH)2 powder are pre-mixed with the crude CNTs and CO2 and N2 gas are introduced into this mixture. When KOH and Ca(OH)2 powder are used at a ratio of 2 : 1 under the atmosphere of CO2 and N2 at the temperature of 750 °C for 1 h, almost all of the amorphous carbon is ablated. Compared with KOH powder, the addition of Ca(OH)2 not only advances the ablation effect, but reduces the damage to CNTs.

Graphical abstract: A novel purification method of activated carbon-supported carbon nanotubes using a mixture of Ca(OH)2 and KOH as the ablation agent

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
30 Sep 2020
Accepted
01 Dec 2020
First published
04 Jan 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2021,11, 1115-1123

A novel purification method of activated carbon-supported carbon nanotubes using a mixture of Ca(OH)2 and KOH as the ablation agent

Y. Hu, L. Zhang, Q. Guo, Z. Zheng, Y. Liu, Y. Ye, S. Li, X. Jia and D. Wang, RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 1115 DOI: 10.1039/D0RA08346A

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