The formation mechanisms of multi-wall carbon nanotubes over the Ni modified MCM-41 catalysts

Multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were grown by thermal chemical vapor deposition (thermal CVD) of CH4 by using Ni-MCM-41 as the catalyst. Methane pyrolysis has been performed in a quartz tube reactor over the catalyst surface to form carbon atoms via dehydrogenation process. The migration and rearrangement of the surface carbon atoms result in the formation of MWCNTs. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to determine the morphologies and structures of CNTs, and Raman spectroscopy was exploited to analyze their purity with the relative intensity between the D-band (Disorder band) in the vicinity of 1,350 cm−1 which is characteristic of the sp3 structure and G-band (Graphitic band) in vicinity of 1,580 cm−1 which is characteristic of the sp2 structure. In addition, the controlling factors of methane pyrolysis such as the catalyst composition; the reaction temperature, and the methane flow rate on the formation of MWCNTs were investigated to optimize the structure and yield of MWCNTs. SEM/TEM results indicate that the yield of the CNTs increases with increasing Ni concentration in the catalyst. The optimized reaction temperature to grow CNT is located between 640 and 670 °C. The uniform and narrow diameter MWCNTs form at lower flow rate of methane (∼30 sccm), and non-uniform in diameter and disorder structure of MWCNTs are observed at higher flow rate of methane. This is consistent with Raman analysis that the relative intensity of ID/IG increases with increasing methane flow rate. The formation mechanisms of the MWCNTs on the Ni-MCM-41 catalyst have been determined to be a Tip-Growth mode with a nanoscale catalyst particle capsulated in the tip of the CNT.