Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes from Phenolic Resin Using Nickel Nitrate as a Catalyst Precursor

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with 20-40 nm in diameter and several micro-meters in length were prepared through catalytic pyrolysis of phenol resin at 400-1000 °C under Ar atmosphere using nickel nitrate as a catalyst precursor. Microstructure and morphology of pyrolysed resin were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that the onset and optimal growth temperatures of CNTs were 400 and 800 °C respectively. Moreover, the optimal weight ratio of Ni catalyst to phenol resin was 0.75%.

Fabrication of Graphitic Carbon Spheres via a Hydrothermal Carbonization Combined Catalytic Graphitization Method Using Cobalt as Catalysts

“…Considerable efforts have been made to prepare graphitic carbon by using Fe, Co or Ni as a catalyst and it has been found that these catalysts are effective in enhancing graphitization of amorphous carbon at a reduced temperature [3]. For example, in our previously published literatures, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with 40-100 nm in diameter and tens of micrometers in length were respectively synthesized using ferric nitrate, nickel nitrate and cobalt nitrate as catalyst precursors at 600-1000 °C [7][8][9]. The results showed that these nitrate precursors firstly decomposed into corresponding metal oxides and then in-situ transformed to transition metal nanoparticles (Fe, Co and Ni) in a heat-treated process, the formed metal nanoparticles acted as a catalyst to catalyze the carbon containing gases released from the phenolic resin pyrolysis forming CNTs.…”

Preparation of Hierarchically Porous Graphitic Carbon Spheres and Their Applications in Supercapacitors and Dye Adsorption

“…It can be seen that the peak heights of graphite increased with increasing the Fe catalyst from 0 to 1.0 wt %, indicating the gradually enhanced graphitization degree of HGCS. However, they adversely decreased upon further increasing the Fe catalyst to 1.5–2.0 wt %, which might be caused by the aggregation and deactivation of the Fe nanoparticles due to their excessive amount [ 25 ]. Raman spectra of the samples ( Figure 4 ) further revealed that the maximal I G /I D ratio (0.99) was reached upon using 1.0 wt % Fe catalyst.…”