In situ CCVD synthesis of carbon nanotubes within a commercial ceramic foam

Anne Cordier (1) , Emmanuel Flahaut (1) , Céline Viazzi (1) , Christophe Laurent (1) , Alain Peigney (1)

1 CIRIMAT - Centre interuniversitaire de recherche et d'ingenierie des matériaux

Consolidated nanocomposite foams containing a large quantity of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) within millimetre-sized pores are prepared for the first time. A commercial ceramic foam is impregnated by a 60 g L21 slurry of a (Mg(12x)(Co0.75Mo0.25)xO solid solution (x = 0.01, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2) powder in ethanol. Three successive impregnations led to deposits several tens of mm thick, with a good coverage of the commercial-ceramic pore walls but without closing the pores. The materials were submitted to a CCVD treatment in H2-CH4 atmosphere in order to synthesise the CNTs. When using attrition-milled powders, the carbon is mostly in the form of nanofibres or disordered carbon rather than CNTs. Using non-milled powders produces a less-compact deposit of catalytic material with a higher adherence to the walls of the ceramic foam. After CCVD, the carbon is mostly in the form of high-quality CNTs, as when using powder beds, their quantity being 2.5 times higher. The so-obtained consolidated nanocomposite materials show a multi-scale pore structuration.

Mots clés: Carbon nanotubes; Foam; Carbon nanotubes

Domaines: Matériaux

Anne Cordier, Emmanuel Flahaut, Céline Viazzi, Christophe Laurent, Alain Peigney. In situ CCVD synthesis of carbon nanotubes within a commercial ceramic foam. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 2005, vol. 15, pp. 4041-4050. ⟨10.1039/b505654c⟩. ⟨hal-00913383⟩