Syed Tajammul Hussain, Mohammed Mazhar, Sheraz Gul and M. Abdullah Khan at Quaid-e-Azam University have developed novel catalysts to manufacture carbon nanotubes and simultaneously produce hydrogen gas suitable for fuel cells more economically. The process produces a pure form of graphitic carbon directly without requiring purification at lower temperatures. The process includes the dispersion of catalyst particles inside the silica discs and calcination at 600.degree. C. for 4-hours to produce Ni:Cu catalyst particles inside the silicon disc thereby eliminating the contamination of catalyst particles in the carbon structure. Advantageously, the process permits the production of CNTs in the 97-98% pure form of very fine particles (2-10 nm) range, according to U.S Patent Application 20090208403.
The design of the catalyst material using nickel and copper restricts the formation of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide (CO/CO2) during the catalytic reaction. This material ranges from 5-30% by weight inside the pores of the silicon discs. The deposition of copper and molybdenum inside the pores of CNTs can produce antiferromagnetic material for industrial applications. The process is worked at low temperature (450.degree. C.- 550.degree. C) at atmospheric pressure and produces a substantial amount of carbon structures, hydrogen enriched fuel and antiferromagnetic material.
Many processes which utilize hydrocarbon decomposition produce hydrogen which is enriched with CO/CO2 contamination, thus increasing the overall economics of the product and consequently cannot be used directly in the fuel cell systems apart from increasing the concentration of green house gasses in the environment. Furthermore, all the processes used to date for the production of CNTs either require high temperature or high pressure processes and need an extra purification step, which is a major obstacle in the economic manufacture and use of the CNTs. Apart from this, the hydrogen produced is contaminated with CO/CO2 and consequently it cannot be used for fuel cell applications, says the inventors.
The Quaid-e-Azam University discovery provides an improved, simple and economical method of synthesizing carbon nanotubes which limits or separation and contamination problems and simplifies the entire process. The process also controls the purity of CNTs during production and produces modified fuel enriched with hydrogen for direct use in fuel cells and reduces environmental carbon emissions by at least 20% compared to other processes.
The image below is a micrograph of carbon nanotubes using Quaid-e-Azam University's process at pictured in the patent application.
