Role of hydrogen in affecting the growth trend of CNT on micron spherical silica gel

Grafting CNTs onto substrates such as fibres and microparticles offers an alternative approach to tackle the issues associated with dispersion in a composite matrix, as well as additional benefits (hybrid effects) provided by... [ view full abstract ]

Grafting CNTs onto substrates such as fibres and microparticles offers an alternative approach to tackle the issues associated with dispersion in a composite matrix, as well as additional benefits (hybrid effects) provided by these dual-filler systems. One approach to obtain such hybrid systems is the direct growth of nanotubes on the supporting fibre or particles. Previous study has shown that the CNTs would grow on the silica microparticles with the morphology closely related to the operating conditions such as temperature and time. However, the role of hydrogen in affecting the tube’s morphology was not explored before. The particles were synthesized via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Spherical silica gel with 40 – 75 μm diameter was used as the substrate. Toluene and ferrocene were used as the hydrocarbon and catalyst source, respectively. The reaction time was kept for four hours while the temperature was maintained at 850°C. The morphology of the samples was further characterized by using FESEM and TEM, whilst TGA and Raman Spectroscopy measured the quality of the produced CNTs. The quality of the grafted CNTs was also compared with the conventional as purchased CNTs. The FESEM and TEM investigation proved that the flow hydrogen during reaction caused a tremendous difference in the outer diameter of the synthesized CNTs. Relatively thin CNT was observed under 50 ml/min of hydrogen flow compared to the particles synthesized without hydrogen. Raman spectroscopy of the CNTs revealed three bands; the disorder-induced D mode (~1321 cm-1), the tangential G mode (~1570 cm-1) and second order G’ mode (~2642 cm-1). Raman analysis shows that the synthesized CNTs exhibited all these peaks, confirming the existence of CNTs. As G peak is more intense than D peak for all samples synthesized under hydrogen flow, it can be concluded that CNTs synthesized is indeed of high quality. The properties of grafted CNT on the surface of spherical silica gels were investigated. It can be confirmed that hydrogen plays an important role in influencing the morphology of the synthesized tubes.