Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as a new member of the carbon allotrope family, were first reported by Iijima in 1991, while the materials of the one-layer grapheme wall, referred to as single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), were late discovered in 1993. CNTs can be regarded as a graphite sheet rolled up into a nanoscale tube with fullerene-like capped-end structure. CNTs were regarded as one of the most promising nano-materials mostly due to its unique structure, high specific area, accessible internal pore volumes, and peculiarly chemical, mechanical, thermal, and electronic properties. Magnetic CNTs (mCNTs) or their derivatives possess important advantages such as accuracy-control and easy-collection, which make the application of sorption process easier and faster. However, nowadays, the syntheses of mCNTs materials still possess several drawbacks, such as the instability of Fe nanoparticles or ferric oxides, low water-solubility and bad dispersion of MCNTs materials, and low saturation magnetization. Therefore, mCNTs materials, which possess stable physicochemical properties and high saturation magnetism, needed to be further developed.  The objective of this study is, therefore, to systematically synthesize mCNTs materials by means of template-assisted chemical vapor deposition method with anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) as the template (AAO/CVD). The parameters such as calcination temperature, composition of the reacting gases, and reaction duration were investigated to find out the best synthesis condition.  The physicochemical properties of the resulting mCNTs materials were identified by means of FTIR/Raman spectroscopy, SQUID, TEM/EDS, SEM/EDS, XRD, and DSL.  The results showed that this study has successfully synthesized the straight-like structure of CNTs and mCNTs, in which the latter was achieved by capillarity-driven wetting of magnetic fluid.

Synthesis of magnetic vertically-aligned carbon nanotubes using CVD assisted by AAO templates and their potential application

248th National Meeting (2014)

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