Metal-Nanocluster-Filled Carbon Nanotubes:  Catalytic Properties and Possible Applications in Electrochemical Energy Storage and Production

Abstract

Ensembles of highly aligned and monodisperse graphitic carbon nanotubules have been prepared via the template method using chemical vapor deposition of carbon within the pores of alumina membranes. Tubules with diameters of 200 nm have been prepared, and smaller diameters are possible. Free-standing aligned carbon-tubule membranes are formed by this template method. These novel carbon tubule membranes can be filled with nanoparticles of electrocatalytic materials (i.e., Pt, Ru, Pt/Ru), which can then be used to electrocatalyze O2 reduction and methanol oxidation as well as the gas-phase catalysis of hydrocarbons. Hence, these membranes have potential applications in fuel cell development. Smaller, highly ordered graphitic-carbon tubules can also be prepared within the template-synthesized carbon tubules, using Fe nanoparticles as catalysts. In these novel tube-in-tube structures, both the outer and the inner tubules are electrochemically active for Li+ intercalation, suggesting possible applications such as Li ion battery anodes.

Adsorption of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes on Electrospun Polycaprolacton Nanofibers

“…Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were discovered by S. Iijima in 1991, have extraordinary electronic, thermal, and mechanical properties that make them useful materials for a variety of applications, such as heterogeneous catalyst supports, [1][2][3] actuators, 4 separation membranes, 5,6 field emission devices, 7 nano tube based composites, 8 hydrogen storage, 9 Chemical sensors, 10 and nanoelectronic devices. 11 Prior to the discovery of nanotubes, no other material is known to possess such kind of unique combination of unique properties.…”

Single step process for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes and metal/alloy-filled multiwalled carbon nanotubes

“…The confined environments of nanotubes permit the formation of unique encapsulated low dimensional structures with unusual properties compared with the bulk with possible applications as nano-catalysts, electronic devices and magnetic tapes [4,5]. Most of the previously reported methods for the fabrication of these one-dimensional nanostructures involve multi-step processes, following CNT synthesis [6][7][8].…”

Gas Transport Characteristics through a Carbon Nanotubule

“…[5][6][7] Recently, renewed interest in these materials has arisen as a template material for nanotube growth, [8][9][10][11] electronic/magnetic/optical devices, 12,13 separations/filtration, 14,15 and energy storage. 16 For some of these applications, being able to understand and model flow characteristics through such media will become critical to their development. These porous media have been uniformly coated with different materials of varying thickness, including carbon and various metals.…”

“…These porous media have been uniformly coated with different materials of varying thickness, including carbon and various metals. [8][9][10][11]16 Electrochemical transport through carbonaceous tubes prepared in this fashion has been studied by Miller et al 15 To produce the carbon nanotubules, we have employed a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) approach similar to that described in the literature. 15,17 Commercially available porous anodic alumina filters (Whatman Anodisc) were obtained and placed in a 1 in.…”