Experimental Characterisation of Catalyst-Free Carbon Nanomaterials from Mixed Vegetable and Animal Base Oils through Modified Traditional Process

• Main Authors: P. S. Venkatanarayanan, R. Velmurugan, A. Joseph Stanley
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2011-01-01
• Series: Journal of Nanomaterials
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/959818

A new process for the preparation of catalyst-free pure carbon nanomatereials is described here. These nanomaterials are then experimentally investigated. The process is simple and traditional so that the operator can have full control over the flame geometry and oil consumption in a span of time. A slight modification is carried out in the traditional process with an option of external heating (forced convection). Two types of samples are prepared (S1 & S2) from two different processes, Modified Traditional Process without external heating (MTP1) and with external heating (MTP2). Deep investigation on yield, morphology and structure of prepared samples are carried out by sophisticated analytical instruments. It is noted that the S1 sample contains pure carbon nano crystals along with well grown thin nano tubular structures whereas S2 sample contains pure carbon nanocrystals in a chain formation and likely possibility for the growth of nanotubes without any further treatment. It is observed clearly that the average weight gain of sample S2 is 22% for MTP1 and 7% for MTP2 more than that of the sample S1 over the same period of time. The range in dimension of the nanoparticles is varying from 6–45 nm.