Synthesis and characterization of carbon nanotubes over iron carbide nanoparticles coated Al powder using thermal chemical vapor deposition

A simple method is described to synthesize carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by the thermal decomposition of toluene at 750°C over a thin catalyst film deposited on Al powder. This method allows the bulk metal surface to act as both the catalyst and support for CNT growth. The catalyst film on Al was prepared from an ethanol solution of iron nitrate. Under the growth conditions, iron nitrate formed an amorphous iron oxide layer that transform into crystalline Fe2O3, which was further reduced to Fe3O4 and Fe3C. It is believed that the growth of CNTs took place on iron carbide nanoparticles that were formed from FeO. The characterization of CNTs was mainly carried out by powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence and thermogravimatric analysis. The CNTs were found to be highly dispersed in Al powder. This composite powder could be further used for the fabrication of Al matrix composites using powder metallurgy process in which the powder were first cold pressed at 500–550 MPa followed by sintering at 620°C for 2 h under a vacuum of 10−2 torr. The mechanical properties of the sintered composites were measured using a microhardness tester and a Universal testing Instron machine.