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Porosity control of CNT aerogel and its conversion to CNT fiber in floating catalyst chemical vapour deposition

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Abstract

Carbon nanotube aerogel (CNT aerogel), a self-assembled 3D structure of long CNTs, has gained attraction as the exotic properties of individual CNTs can be potentially translated into the macro dimension through this structure. The present work reports how S/Fe ratio in the feedstock controls the density and pore-structure of the self-assembled CNT aerogel in floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition (FC-CVD). The density of the aerogel increases with the decrease in the S/Fe ratio. Small-angle scattering (SAS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) suggest the decrease in porosity and increase in bundle dimensions with the decrease in S/Fe ratio. Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) depict that the CNTs are multi-walled in nature at the processing conditions employed, and the crystallinity improves with an increase in the S/Fe ratio. Early re-nucleation and increase in nucleation density of catalysts with a higher S/Fe ratio have been proposed to produce CNT aerogel with lesser density. The formed aerogels were converted into CNT fibers and a maximum electrical conductivity of 1.02 ± 0.19 M Sm−1 and tensile strength of 308.56 ± 24.6 MPa were obtained with S/Fe ratio of 0.2.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mr. S. A. Thakur and Ms. Poonam Suradkar for assisting in sample preparation and furnace operation. The authors are thankful to Dr. Manishkumar Yadav, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai and SAIF, IIT Bombay for the TEM. This research was funded by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India.

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This research was funded by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, 400085, India

    Rajath Alexander, Amit Kaushal, Jyoti Prakash, P. T. Rao & Kinshuk Dasgupta

  2. Homi Bhabha National Institute, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, 400094, India

    Amit Kaushal, Debasis Sen & Kinshuk Dasgupta

  3. Solid State Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, 400085, Mumbai, India

    Debasis Sen

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  1. Rajath Alexander
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Contributions

RA: Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing - Original Draft. AK: Investigation, Resources. JP: Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing - Review & Editing. PTR: Investigation, Resources. DS: Investigation, Resources. KD: Writing - Review & Editing, Supervision, Project administration.

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Correspondence to Kinshuk Dasgupta.

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Alexander, R., Kaushal, A., Prakash, J. et al. Porosity control of CNT aerogel and its conversion to CNT fiber in floating catalyst chemical vapour deposition. J Porous Mater 30, 507–520 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10934-022-01358-3

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