Using ammonium hydroxide in the synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and NH4OH solution was successfully studied. The synthetic process was carried out by chemical vapor decomposition (CVD) method over gamma alumina-supported iron (Fe/γ-Al2O3) catalyst. According to the results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, nitrogen was successfully incorporated into the carbon nanotube network. Pictures taken by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) at different magnification levels showed that the product obtained had high purity, the outer diameters varied in a narrow range, from 35 to 45 nm. The higher magnification of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed the typical nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes microstructure.