Synthesis of coal-derived single-walled carbon nanotube from coal by varying the ratio of Zr/Ni as bimetallic catalyst

In this paper coal, source has been used in place of graphite for synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with new Zr/Ni bimetallic catalyst. Using coal as starting material to produce the high-value-added SWCNTs is an economically competent route. SWCNTs have been synthesized by the electric arc discharge method using the so-called heterogeneous annealed coal anode filled with Zr and Ni catalyst. SWCNTs have been synthesized using annealed coal rod. The SWCNTs bundles synthesized generally have diameters of 4–10 nm. Most of those produced with Zr/Ni as the catalyst has a diameter ranging from 2.0 to 1.0 nm. The as-synthesized SWCNTs have been characterized employing XRD, HRTEM, EDX, Raman spectroscopy, and FTIR. It has been found that the change of the ratio of Zr and Ni concentration (wt%) in the catalyst affects the yield of SWCNTs. However, the purity of SWCNTs is very sensitive to the concentration of Zr. An optimal range of Zr/Ni compositions for synthesis of SWCNTs with relatively high purity and yield is obtained at specific concentration of 3:1.