Control growth of carbon nanofibers on Ni/activated carbon in a fluidized bed reactor

• Published in: Microporous and mesoporous materials 2010-06, Vol.131 (1), p.393-400
• Main Authors: Gu, J.-Y., Li, K.-X., Wang, J., He, H.-W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Adsorbents; Carbon; Carbon fibers; Catalysts; Chemical vapor deposition; Chemistry; Colloidal gels. Colloidal sols; Colloidal state and disperse state; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Nanofibers; Nickel; Physical and chemical studies. Granulometry. Electrokinetic phenomena; Porous materials; Scanning electron microscopy; Sol–gel method; Specific surface; Surface physical chemistry; Vapor-grown carbon nanofibers
• ISSN: 1387-1811; 1873-3093
• DOI: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2010.01.021

An effectual new approach to prepare a hybrid composite of vapor-grown carbon nanofibers (VGCNFs)/activated carbon (AC) with high specific surface area is demonstrated. The fibers are synthesized at 1073 K by a chemical vapor deposition method with natural gas (CH 4) as the carbon source, hydrogen as carrier gas and Ni nanoparticles loaded on AC as the catalyst. The materials synthesized are characterized using a combination of N 2 adsorption–desorption isotherm, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. This shows that after 180 min reaction, the Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) surface area of VGCNF/AC reaches 1113 m 2/g, and VGCNFs with diameters ranging between 40 and 120 nm can develop on the surface of the AC. Platelet graphite nanofibers and contorted nanofibers are found and their microstructures depend on the characteristics of the catalyst used.