Journal
NANOSCALE RESEARCH LETTERS
Volume 9, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
SPRINGEROPEN
DOI: 10.1186/1556-276X-9-387
Keywords
Fly ash; Catalytic chemical vapour decomposition; Carbon nanofibers; Iron
Funding
- National Research Foundation of South Africa [88076]
- ESKOM
- DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Strong Materials at the University of the Witwatersrand
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Carbon nanofibers (CNFs), cylindrical nanostructures containing graphene, were synthesized directly from South African fly ash (a waste product formed during the combustion of coal). The CNFs (as well as other carbonaceous materials like carbon nanotubes (CNTs)) were produced by the catalytic chemical vapour deposition method (CCVD) in the presence of acetylene gas at temperatures ranging from 400 degrees C to 700 degrees C. The fly ash and its carbonaceous products were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), laser Raman spectroscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area measurements. It was observed that as-received fly ash was capable of producing CNFs in high yield by CCVD, starting at a relatively low temperature of 400 degrees C. Laser Raman spectra and TGA thermograms showed that the carbonaceous products which formed were mostly disordered. Small bundles of CNTs and CNFs observed by TEM and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) showed that the catalyst most likely responsible for CNF formation was iron in the form of cementite; X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Mossbauer spectroscopy confirmed these findings.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available