Application of Thermogravimetry and Differential Thermal Analysis in Catalytic CVD Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MW-CNTs) were prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method with the decomposition of acetylene over Co/SiO2 catalyst. TG-DTA technique was used together with TEM and XRD to study the effect of reaction temperature on the composition, graphitized extent, and diameter distribution of the produced raw CNTs based on their oxidization resistance. During the decomposition, the micro-crystallite of the active constituent (Co/SiO2) were growing up as the reaction temperature rising. This in turn resulted in an increase of the diameter distribution range of produced MW-CNTs. The average diameter increased from 20~30 nm (650℃) to 30~50 nm (750℃). XRD results also showed the graphitized extent of MW-CNTs was enhanced meanwhile the spacing between the layers (d002) decreased from 3.45 (650℃) to 3.32 (850℃) with the reaction temperature raised. TG-DTA data showed that the exothermic peak of the amorphous carbon was below 380℃and its content would decrease as temperature increasing. In summary, for CVD production of CNTs using acetylene gas on Co/SiO2 catalyst, low temperature (about 650℃) favored producing thinner MW-CNTs with the diameter from 20 to 30 nm while higher temperature (about 850℃) is favored thicker MW-CNTs (diameter from 70 to 100 nm).