Comparative Study Of Thermal Stability Of Filled And Un-filled Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes  

¹Deptartment of Applied Physics, Delhi Technological University, Bawana Road, Delhi 110042, India

²Solid State Physics Laboratory, Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi 110054, India

Adv. Mater. Lett., 2016, 7 (3), pp 230-234

DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2016.6149

Publication Date (Web): Feb 01, 2016

Copyright © IAAM-VBRI Press

E-mail: pawan.phy@dce.edu

Abstract

Filled or un-filled multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) used in this study have been synthesized by the floating catalyst method and fixed catalyst method, respectively. The thermal stability of filled/un-filled carbon nanotubes has been investigated by using Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) analysis. In this report, we have developed a methodology to distinguish between filled and un-filled carbon nanotubes. Filled-CNTs are found to be more resistant to oxidation than the un-filled carbon nanotubes. The calculated activation energy of as-grown filled CNTs, by using differential method, determined to be 3.29 ± 0.04 eV, which is higher than that of highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). Carboneous impurities; amorphous carbon, catalyst and CNT of different diameter, which are structurally different, are identified by their reactivity and the resistance to oxidation.

Keywords

Carbon nanotubes, thermogravimetric analysis, derivative thermogravimetric analysis, highly ordered pyrolytic graphite.