Synthesis And Characterization Of Carbon Nanotube Prepared Using Microwave Oven For Hydrogen Gas Sensing Application

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Date
2018-03
Authors
Algadri, Natheer Ali
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Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have garnered substantial interest because of their distinctive electrical, mechanical, thermal, chemical and magnetic properties. However, the requirements for majority of the existing synthesis methods include high temperature or a high vacuum environment. Thus, there is the need for a simpler and low cost method for synthesizing CNT. This study characterize the morphology and optical properties of CNTs synthesized using microwave oven. CNT based hydrogen gas sensors were then fabricated on silicon oxide and glass substrates using a simple and cost-effective deposition method. The synthesis of CNT entailed flattening a mixture of graphite and ferrocene catalyst inside the microwave oven under ambient conditions for 5 s duration. HNO3 acid was used to functionalize the nanotube and remove metallic particles. The synthesized of CNTs was measured and characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). CNT was synthesized under different ratio of graphite and ferrocene the best results were found at ratio of 70:30 (graphite to ferrocene). The influence of catalyst particle size on the formation and diameter of CNTs was also investigated. Ferrocene catalysts with average diameters of 19.7, 21.4, 23.6 and 27.0 μm were used. Raman spectroscopy indicates that the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of G, D, and 2D bands decreases gradually with increasing CNT diameter. Meanwhile, G-band/D-band intensity ratio is found to be sensitive to crystal defects, showing a drop for CNTs diameter in the range of 25-40 nm, followed by a slight increase for higher diameters.
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Keywords
Carbon nanotube prepared using microwave oven , for hydrogen gas sensing application
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