Carbon Nanotube Generation

 

Chemical Engineering 415 - Spring 2006

 

 

Project Description

The purpose of this project is to design and construct a reactor to produce carbon nanotubes. After completion, we will begin experimental runs to see if the reactor is successful. If carbon nanotubes growth is observed we will work on optimizing the process. If not, the reactor will be modified until it is able to produe carbon nanotubes. After optimization is complete and if time allows, we will analyze the heat property of carbon nanotubes.

 

Milestones

1. Research and design CVD reactor2. Construct working reactor3. Run experiment and analyze sample4. Optimize growth of carbon nanotube5. Analyze heat characteristic of nanotube

 

Background Info

The discovery of carbon nanotubes (CNT) in 1991 has stimulated intensive research to characterize their structure and determine their physical properties both by direct measurement and through predictive methods using modeling techniques. Carbon nanotubes consist of only carbon molecules arranged in cylindrical shape. The bonding in carbon nanotubes is sp˛, with each atom joined to three neighbors, as in graphite. The tubes can therefore be considered as rolled-up graphene sheets (graphene is an individual graphite layer). There are three distinct ways in which a graphene sheet can be rolled into a tube, as shown in the figure below.
The first two of these, known as “armchair” (top) and “zig-zag” (middle) have a high degree of symmetry. The terms "armchair" and "zig-zag" refer to the arrangement of hexagons around the circumference. The third class of tube, which in practice is the most common, is known as chiral, meaning that it can exist in two mirror-related forms. An example of a chiral nanotube is shown at the bottom left. Carbon nanotube usually made by carbon-arc discharge, laser ablation of carbon, or chemical vapor deposition on catalytic particles. The later will be utilized in our experiment. A gas mixture of ethanol and hydrogen will be passed of substrate spin coated with ferrocene.