Catalytic Preparation of Carbon Nanotubes from Waste Polyethylene Using FeNi Bimetallic Nanocatalyst
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The State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallurgy, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China
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Henan Key Laboratory of High Temperature Functional Ceramics, Zhengzhou University, 75 Daxue Road, Zhengzhou 450052, China
3
College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(8), 1517; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10081517
Received: 15 July 2020
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Revised: 27 July 2020
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Accepted: 28 July 2020
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Published: 3 August 2020
In this work, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were synthesized by catalytic pyrolysis from waste polyethylene in Ar using an in-situ catalyst derived from ferric nitrate and nickel nitrate precursors. The influence factors (such as temperature, catalyst content and Fe/Ni molar ratio) on the formation of CNTs were investigated. The results showed that with the temperature increasing from 773 to 1073 K, the carbon yield gradually increased whereas the aspect (length-diameter) ratio of CNTs initially increased and then decreased. The optimal growth temperature of CNTs was 973 K. With increasing the Fe/Ni molar ratio in an FeNi bimetallic catalyst, the yield of CNTs gradually increased, whereas their aspect ratio first increased and then decreased. The optimal usage of the catalyst precursor (Fe/Ni molar ratio was 5:5) was 0.50 wt% with respect to the mass of polyethylene. In this case, the yield of CNTs reached as high as 20 wt%, and their diameter and length were respectively 20–30 nm, and a few tens of micrometers. The simple low-cost method developed in this work could be used to address the environmental concerns about plastic waste, and synthesize high value-added CNTs for a range of future applications.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Li, K.; Zhang, H.; Zheng, Y.; Yuan, G.; Jia, Q.; Zhang, S. Catalytic Preparation of Carbon Nanotubes from Waste Polyethylene Using FeNi Bimetallic Nanocatalyst. Nanomaterials 2020, 10, 1517. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10081517
AMA Style
Li K, Zhang H, Zheng Y, Yuan G, Jia Q, Zhang S. Catalytic Preparation of Carbon Nanotubes from Waste Polyethylene Using FeNi Bimetallic Nanocatalyst. Nanomaterials. 2020; 10(8):1517. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10081517
Chicago/Turabian StyleLi, Kezhuo, Haijun Zhang, Yangfan Zheng, Gaoqian Yuan, Quanli Jia, and Shaowei Zhang. 2020. "Catalytic Preparation of Carbon Nanotubes from Waste Polyethylene Using FeNi Bimetallic Nanocatalyst" Nanomaterials 10, no. 8: 1517. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10081517
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