Synthesis and Characterization of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes from Biodiesel Oil: Green Nanotechnology Route

ABSTRACT

Biodiesel oil (Jatropha curcas), an unconventional botanical hydrocarbon, has been found to be an effective precursor of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs). Multi-walled carbon nanotubes were prepared by spray pyrolysis of biodiesel oil over well-dispersed Fe/Co/Mo catalyst supported on either silica or alumina. MWNTs were characterized by scanning electron microcscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy revealed that the MWNTs were well graphitized. We report the successful growth of a dense array of MWNTs of diameter in the range of 16 to 24 nm. Catalyst support on silica nanoparticles produced abundant MWNTs.

KEYWORDS:

• biodiesel
• unconventional resource
• MWNTs
• spray pyrolysis
• Fe/Co/Mo catalyst
• green nanotechnology

The authors are grateful to the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India, for providing Raman spectroscopy and HRTEM facility, and to Pondicherry University for taking SEM images of samples. The authors would also like to thank their department heads for constant support and encouragement.