Growth of Nitrogen-Containing Carbon Nanofibers
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Date
2006-06
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Nitrogen-containing nanofibers are lightweight, can be functionalized for electrical and thermal conductivity, and can be useful for mechanical reinforcement, which are properties that can be used for many practical applications. However, different metals and supports affect the structure of the carbon nanofibers that are formed. Different combinations of supports (MgO and SiO2) and metals (Co, Fe, Ni) were used as catalytic precursors to grow nitrogen-containing carbon nanofibers via acetonitrile decomposition. The products were analyzed using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), BET surface area/pore volume analysis (BET standing for Brunauer, Emmet, and Teller, the people who developed the technique for calculating surface area), temperature programmed acetonitrile pyrolysis (TPAP) analysis, temperature programmed oxidation (TPO) analysis, and transmission electron miscopy (TEM). MgO supports were easier to purify making it more favorable than SiO2. Co containing catalysts seemed to produce nanofibers with the highest nitrogen content, with Fe and Ni to follow. Fe and Co loaded catalysts yielded products with a stacked cup shape, which has easily functionalized edge planes. Diameter size distributions of the fibers grown seemed to be independent of the catalytic precursor; however, Co containing catalysts produced fibers with more uniform sizes. Following this study, fibers can now be produced with respect to specifications in shape, size, and nitrogen content.
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Keywords
carbon nanofibers, nitrogen, catalyst, fuel cell