Muhammad Helmi Abdul Kudus

Hybrid Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes/Minerals as Potential Fillers for Polymer Composites

Minerals are always used as filler material in polymer composite application purposely to reduce the price. In order to optimize the use of mineral fillers instead of price reduction, there were several approaches that have been done such as surface treatment, finding suitable coupling agent, and etc. The study on hybridization of minerals with carbon nanotubes (CNT) are rare to be found. CNT has received great attention from researchers due to their superior properties to be used in many applications. Hybridizing CNT with minerals proposes potential fillers for polymer composite. In this study, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique was used to synthesize the CNT-minerals hybrid compound. A mixture of CH4/N2 was used as the carbon source and nickel as the metal catalyst for the growth of CNT hybrid compound. Three different types of minerals were used namely talc, muscovite and CaCO3 are used to synthesize the MWCNT-talc, MWCNT-muscovite and MWCNT-CaCO3 hybrid compound. In short, the process involved precipitation of mineral filler with nickel salt. The process was followed by calcinations and reduction of the catalyst, and methane decomposition. The produced hybrid compounds were then analyzed.

Improvement of Fracture Toughness in Epoxy Nanocomposites through Chemical Hybridization of Carbon Nanotubes and Alumina

The current study investigated the effect of adding a carbon nanotube–alumina (CNT–Al2O3) hybrid on the fracture toughness of epoxy nanocomposites. The CNT–Al2O3 hybrid was synthesised by growing CNTs on Al2O3 particles via the chemical vapour deposition method. The CNTs were strongly attached onto the Al2O3 particles, which served to transport and disperse the CNTs homogenously, and to prevent agglomeration in the CNTs. The experimental results demonstrated that the CNT–Al2O3 hybrid-filled epoxy nanocomposites showed improvement in terms of the fracture toughness, as indicated by an increase of up to 26% in the critical stress intensity factor, K1C, compared to neat epoxy.

Synthesis and Characterization of MWCNT/Dolomite Hybrid Compound as Potential Composite Fillers

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes/dolomite (MWCNT/dolomite) hybrid compound was synthesized using the Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) technique. The catalyst was prepared via the co-precipitation method. The process involves the drying of the precipitate followed by calcination at 900°C.Upon completion of calcinations process, the reduction process was carried under H2 at 400°C and growth in a CH4/N2 gas mixture at 800°C for 30 minutes The reduction process was carried out under H2 and growth in a CH4/N2 gas mixture at 800°C for 30 minutes. The morphological assessment using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) showed that the CNT was successfully grown on dolomite particle. High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM) micrograph further confirmed the presence of MWCNT with varied length and geometry on dolomite surfaces, supported the formation of MWCNT on the dolomites particle.

Synthesis of MWCNT-Alumina Hybrid as Composite Reinforcement Using Nickel Catalyst

This work focuses on synthesis of MWCNT-alumina hybrid compound via methane decomposition process using nickel catalyst. The catalysts prepared through in situ process by using nickel salt and aluminium powder which then calcined at 900oC followed by methane decomposition process to grow MWCNT on alumina surface. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) images confirmed the formation of MWCNT with homogenous dispersion on alumina particles.

Synthesis and Characterization of Hybrid MWCNT-Alumina Filled Epoxy Nanocomposites

This paper presents the multi-scale hybridization of carbon nanotube (CNT) with microparticles in polymers which offers new opportunity to develop high performance multifunctional composites. The hybrid carbon nanotube-alumina (CNT-Al2O3) compound was synthesized via chemical vapour deposition (CVD) by direct growth of CNT on alumina particles. This hybrid CNT-Al2O3 compound was incorporated into the epoxy matrix at various filler loadings (i.e., 1–5%) and compared to physically mixed CNT-Al2O3. The CNT-Al2O3 hybrid epoxy composites showed higher hardness compared to the CNT-Al2O3 physically mixed epoxy composites. This enhancement was associated with the homogenous dispersion of CNT-Al2O3 hybrid compound in the epoxy matrix.

Synthesis and Characterization of MWCNT/CaCO3 Hybrid Compound

In this work, the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique was used to synthesis the multiwall carbon nanotubes/calcium carbonate (MWCNT/CaCO3) hybrid compound. A gas mixture of CH4/N2 was used as the source of carbon and Ni/CaCO3 was used as catalyst for the growth of the hybrid compound. The catalyst was prepared using a mixture of nickel salt and CaCO3 via co-precipitation method. In short, the process involves the drying of the precipitate followed by calcinations at 900°C. Reduction process was carried under H2 at 400°C and growth in CH4/N2 mixture at 800°C for 30 minutes .The resulted compound was then analyzed using XRD, SEM and HRTEM. From XRD analysis the CNT/ CaCO3 was successfully synthesized. HRTEM micrographs support the formation of MWCNT on the CaCO3 surface.

Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Hybrid MWCNT-Muscovite Composite Filler

A novel hybrid carbon nanotube-muscovite (CNT-muscovite) compound was synthesized via chemical vapour deposition (CVD) by directly grown CNT on muscovite particles. The synthesis of CNT using nickel catalyst and muscovite as a substrate material is rarely found. Morphological analysis using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) showed that the CNT was successfully grown on muscovite flaky particles. The CNT-muscovite compound can be potentially used as a new class of filler in polymer composites technology.

Effect of Catalyst Calcination Temperature on the Synthesis of MWCNTs-Talc Hybrid Compound Using CVD Method

Carbon nanotubes-talc (CNTs-talc) hybrid compound has been successfully synthesized via chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method. A gas mixture of methane/nitrogen (CH4/N2) was used as the carbon source and nickel as the metal catalyst for the growth of CNT hybrid compound. Talc works as substrate or support material which is combined with nickel to form a complex metal-talc catalyst that will react with carbon source to produce the hybrid compound. To study the effect of different calcinations temperature, four different calcinations temperature, 300 °C (C-talc300), 500 °C (C-talc500), 700 °C (C-talc700) and 900 °C (C-talc900) were used. Among these four calcination temperatures for synthesis the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), C-talc500 is the most optimum calcination temperature to perform catalytic decomposition by reacting in methane atmosphere at 800 °C to produce the CNT-talc hybrid compound.

Effect of Calcination and Reduction Process on MWCNT Growth during Synthesizing MWCNT-Alumina Hybrid as Composite Reinforcement

Multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and alumina hybrid compound prepared via chemical vapour deposition (CVD). The CVD process always reported that the catalyst must undergo calcinations and reduction process before growing the carbon nanotube (CNT). In this work, MWCNT-alumina hybrid was successfully synthesized via simple CVD method. The morphologies study showed that the MWCNT-alumina hybrid with calcination and reduction, and calcination without reduction has been successfully synthesized.