Growth of carbon nanotubes from waste blast furnace gases at atmospheric pressure

Carbon emissions from industrial sources are of major global concern, especially contributions from the steel manufacturing process which accounts for the majority of emissions. Typical blast furnace gases consist of CO2 (20-25%), CO (20-25%), H2 (3-5%) and N2 (40-50%) and trace amounts of other gases. It is demonstrated that gas mixtures with these compositions can be used at atmospheric pressure to grow carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on to steel substrates, which act as catalysts for CNT growth. Computational modelling was used to investigate the CNT growth conditions inside the CVD chamber. The results show that industrial waste pollutant gases can be used to manufacture materials with significant commercial value, in this case CNTs.