Optimization of Electrical Parameters for Production of Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

For more than two decades, there had been extensive research on the production of carbon nanotubes (CNT) and opti- mization of its manufacture for the industrial applications. It is believed that they are the strong enough but most flexi- ble materials known to mankind. They have potential to take part in new nanofabricated materials. It is known that, carbon nanotubes could behave as the ultimate one-dimensional material with remarkable mechanical properties. More- over, carbon nanotubes exhibit strong electrical and thermal conducting properties. In the process of optimizing the production in line with the industrial application, the researchers have found a new material to act as an anode i.e. coal, which is inexpensive as compared to graphite. There are various methods such as arc discharge, laser ablation, chemical vapour deposition (CVD), template-directed synthesis and the use of the growth of CNTs in the presence of catalyst particles. The production of carbon nanotubes in large quantities is possible with inexpensive coal as the starting carbon source by the arc discharge technique. It is found that a large amount of carbon nanotubes of good quality can be ob- tained in the cathode deposits in which carbon nanotubes are present in nest-like bundles. This paper primarily concen- trates on the optimising such parameters related to the mass production of the product. It has been shown through Sim- plex process that based on the cost of the SWNT obtained by the arc discharge technique, the voltage and the current should lie in the range of 30 - 42 V and 49 - 66 A respectively. Any combination above the given values will lead to a power consumption cost beyond the final product cost, in turn leading to infeasibility of the process.

Share and Cite:

S. Chattopadhyay and K. Singh, "Optimization of Electrical Parameters for Production of Carbon Nanotubes," Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, Vol. 11 No. 10, 2012, pp. 961-964. doi: 10.4236/jmmce.2012.1110095.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] Y. Y. Tsai, J. S. Su, C. Y. Su, “A Novel Method to Pro- duce Carbon Nanotubes Using EDM Process,” Interna- tional Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture, Vol. 48, No. 15, 2008, pp. 1653-1657. doi:10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2008.07.005
[2] J. S. Qiu, Y. F. Li, Y. P. Wang, T. H. Wang, Z. B. Zhao, Y. Zhou, F. Li and H. M. Cheng, “High-Purity Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes Synthesized from Coal,” Carbon, Vol. 41, No. 11, 2003, pp. 2159-2179. doi:10.1016/S0008-6223(03)00242-2
[3] J. S. Qiu, F. Zhang, Y. Zhou, H. M. Han, D. S. Hu, S. C. Tsang and P. J. F. Harris, “Carbon Nano-Materials from Eleven Caking Coals,” Fuel, Vol. 81, No. 11-12, 2002, pp. 1509-1514. doi:10.1016/S0016-2361(02)00069-8
[4] J. S. Qiu, Y. F. Li, Y. P. Wang and W. Li, “Production of Carbon Nanotubes from Coal,” Fuel Processing Tech- nology, Vol. 85, No. 15, 2004, pp. 1663-1670. doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2003.12.010
[5] J. S. Qiu, Z. Y. Wang, Z. B. Zhao and T. H. Wang, “Syn- thesis of Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes from Coal in Hydrogen-Free Atmosphere,” Fuel, Vol. 86, No. 1-2, 2007, pp. 282-286. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2006.05.024
[6] K. Kidena, Y. Kamiyama and M. Nomura, “A Possibility of the Production of Carbon Nanotubes from Heavy Hy- drocarbons,” Fuel Processing Technology, Vol. 89, No. 4, 2008, pp. 449-454. doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2007.11.021
[7] J. L. Yu, J. Lucas, V. Strezov and T. Wall, “Coal and Carbon Nanotube Production,” Fuel, Vol. 82, No. 15-17, 2003, pp. 2025-2032. doi:10.1016/S0016-2361(03)00189-3
[8] M. A. Wilson, H. K. Patney and J. Kalman, “New De- velopments in Formation of Nanotubes from Coal,” Fuel, Vol. 81, No. 1, 2002, pp. 5-14. doi:10.1016/S0016-2361(00)00192-7
[9] K. A. Williams, M. Tachibana, J. L. Allen, L. Grigorian, S. C. Cheng, S. L. Fang, G. U. Sumanasekera, A. L. Loper, J. H. Williams and P. C. Eklund, “Single-wall Carbon Nanotubes from Coal,” Chemical Physics Letters, Vol. 310, No. 1-2, 1999, pp. 31-37. doi:10.1016/S0009-2614(99)00725-3
[10] M. S. Krishnan “Classification of Coal,” Geological Sur- vey of India, Vol. 4, No.3, 1940, p. 552.
[11] “Domestic Coal Price Fixation,” Coal India Ltd., 2011.
[12] http://www.helixmaterial.com/Ordering.html

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.