Synthesis and Purifications of Amorphous Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract- The amorphous carbon nanotubes (a-CNTs) have been synthesized through chemical route. The a-CNTs produced were cleaned by using two purification methods that are acid and microwave assisted purification. The comparison of both purification efficiencies were conducted through SEM and UV-VIS testing. The SEM images show that a-CNTs using acid purification have diameter of 70-100nm while the a-CNTs cleaned by microwave assisted purification was in diameter range of 60-100nm. The absorption spectra for both a-CNTS fall in the far ultraviolet region that is 199nm. BACKGROUND Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted worldwide interest since its discovered by Sumio Iijima at 1991. They can be considered as a rolled up layer of graphite with diameters ranging from 1 to 100 nm and up to micrometers in length. They have high electrical conductivity, excellent tensile strength, high flexible, high thermal conductivity, low thermal expansion coefficient and high absorbent. They are very useful molecular components for nanotechnology due to the outstanding properties [1]. In the past, most of the research has been extensively focus on the synthesis of carbon nanotubes with single, double or multiwalls, but much less explored for the synthesis of CNTs with amorphous wall. The properties of amorphous carbon nanotubes (a-CNTs) are different from those crystallized carbon nanotubes due to the wall composed by carbon clusters with short-distance order or long-distance disorder [2]