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 NH
4OH solution was successfully studied. The
synthetic process was carried out by chemical vapor
decomposition (CVD) method over gamma aluminasupported 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.