Effect of Mo on the catalytic activity of Fe catalyst for the growth of carbon single-walled nanotubes

FUEL 177

Elena Mora, epigos@honda-ri.com, Toshio Tokune, and Avetik R Harutyunyan, aharutyunyan@honda-ri.com. Honda Research Institute USA Inc, 1381 Kinnear Rd, Columbus, OH 43212
The performance of Fe/Mo/Al2O3 and Fe/Al2O3 catalysts are compared, in order to study the beneficial role of Mo in the growth of carbon single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The use of a Mass Spectrometer attached to the CVD apparatus allowed us to study, in situ, the effect on both catalyst activity and lifetime during the growth of SWNTs. We concluded that Mo not only improves catalyst activity and lifetime, but also decreases the activation energy for decomposition of the hydrocarbon. As a result, the growth initiates earlier and is prolonged for longer times resulting in higher SWNTs yields compared to the monometallic catalyst.