The effects of hydrogen proportion on the synthesis of carbon nanomaterials with gaseous detonation (deflagration) method

Using ferrocene, H₂ and O₂, Carbon nanomaterials were prepared with gaseous detonation (deflagration) method. The effects of H₂ on the phase and morphology of carbon nanomaterials were studied by various proportions of H₂ in the reaction. The prepared samples were characterized by x-ray diffractometer, transmission electron microscope and Raman spectrometer. The results show that hydrogen proportion has a great influence on the phase and morphology of carbon nanomaterials. The high hydrogen proportion leads to much unreacted hydrogen, which could protect the iron atom from oxidation of carbon and dilute the reactants contributing to uniform particle size. In addition, the graphitization degree of multi-walled carbon nanotubes, observed in samples with high H₂ proportion, is high enough to see the lattice fringes, but the degree of graphitization of whole sample is lower than which fabricated with low H₂ proportion, and it may result from the low energy generation. (paper)