Kitchen chemicals used daily in the cultivation of carbon nanotubes | Research

US researchers have discovered that cheap sodium compounds found in kitchen cabinets, such as baking soda, detergent and table salt, can play a catalytic role in the formation of nanotubes of carbon.

Brian Wardle's group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shown that carbon nanotubes can be grown on carbon fibers soaked in solutions of sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide or sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO).₃) by chemical vapor deposition. A carbon-containing vapor – in this case a mixture of carbon dioxide and ethylene – is exposed to the sodium-based catalyst, thus allowing the carbon to attach to the nanoparticles of the metal and form nanotubes.

The use of sodium as a catalyst has allowed the nanotubes to be grown at relatively low temperatures compared to other methods – less than 400 ° C. The nanotubes so produced do not have the same effect. were not contaminated with sodium, suggesting that the catalyst vaporizes after formation of the structures.

The researchers said the discovery could lead to new nanotube manufacturing methods for applications such as electrochemical sensors and energy systems, as the process would be easily scalable. They now want to do other experiments to understand the growth mechanism of these carbon nanotubes.