Optimization of Electrical Parameters for Production of Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

For more than two decades, there had been extensive research on the production of carbon nanotubes (CNT) and opti- mization of its manufacture for the industrial applications. It is believed that they are the strong enough but most flexi- ble materials known to mankind. They have potential to take part in new nanofabricated materials. It is known that, carbon nanotubes could behave as the ultimate one-dimensional material with remarkable mechanical properties. More- over, carbon nanotubes exhibit strong electrical and thermal conducting properties. In the process of optimizing the production in line with the industrial application, the researchers have found a new material to act as an anode i.e. coal, which is inexpensive as compared to graphite. There are various methods such as arc discharge, laser ablation, chemical vapour deposition (CVD), template-directed synthesis and the use of the growth of CNTs in the presence of catalyst particles. The production of carbon nanotubes in large quantities is possible with inexpensive coal as the starting carbon source by the arc discharge technique. It is found that a large amount of carbon nanotubes of good quality can be ob- tained in the cathode deposits in which carbon nanotubes are present in nest-like bundles. This paper primarily concen- trates on the optimising such parameters related to the mass production of the product. It has been shown through Sim- plex process that based on the cost of the SWNT obtained by the arc discharge technique, the voltage and the current should lie in the range of 30 - 42 V and 49 - 66 A respectively. Any combination above the given values will lead to a power consumption cost beyond the final product cost, in turn leading to infeasibility of the process.