Synthesis of carbon nanotubes using novel alloy hydride catalysts by thermal cvd and their energy-related applications

This chapter presents the recent trends in the carbon nanotubes growth by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) technique. The use of CVD technique and novel alloy hydride catalysts for the synthesis of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) by the pyrolysis of acetylene is presented. The advantages of this novel approach to catalyst preparation using hydrogen decrepitation with reference to the increase in the catalytic reactivity and active sites for the formation of CNTs are highlightened. A growth process of CNTs with alloy hydride catalysts by vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism is proposed. The results of the different characterization of the as-grown and purified MWNTs are described. The dependence of the yield and the purity of the MWNTs synthesized on the alloy hydride catalysts are discussed. The various experimental techniques of the energy- related applications of MWNTs are presented.