Facile processing of zeolite based catalyst support for carbon nanotube synthesis

Abstract

Before many of the most promising applications of carbon nanotubes can be realized, nanotube characteristics including chirality, length and diameter must be optimised. One of the most important aspects of supported carbon nanotube synthesis is the interaction of the catalyst with the substrate. The highly uniform and dense pore structures of zeolites make them ideally suited for improving carbon nanotube synthesis, but their powder form renders them incompatible with many commonly used and highly developed synthesis techniques. Existing methods for making planar substrates from zeolites are complex and unsuitable for incorporation into carbon nanotube synthesis. We present an investigation into facile methods for forming zeolites into substrates, demonstrating that these are compatible with many different CNT synthesis techniques and even able to support the growth of aligned arrays of CNTs that are hundreds of microns long. These substrates can be easily produced and incorporated into existing CNT synthesis processes and should therefore aid in the use of zeolites in CNT synthesis generally. This method is also compatible with any powder based porous material such as activated alumina or silica gel, allowing the production of substrates with a wide variety of pore size distributions and surface properties. © 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V