Synthesis of carbon nanoparticles by ARC discharge in liquid using metallic cathode and their applica tions as filler for polymer nanocomposite

Abstract

Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) such as nanotubes, nanohorns, and nanocapsules weregenerated by arc discharge in liquid nitrogen with either graphite-graphite or iron-graphiteelectrodes. This work is focusing on investigation of the effects of various dischargecurrent on the structure and the characteristics as well as yield of the synthezied carbonnanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that under a condition of dischargein liquid nitrogen with the iron-graphite electrodes. The synthesized products consist ofcarbon nanocapsule particles with mean diameter of 50-400 nm. Meanwhile, carbon nanotube withdiameter of 8-25 m and length 150-250 run could be detained from the condition of dischargein liquid nitrogen with the graphite-graphite electrodes. Furthermore, the obtained carbon nanoparticles were also used as fillers for producingiso-polypropylene (i-PP) nanocomposite using direct melt mixing method. The mechanical propertiesand structure of i-PP fibers with different concentrations of carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) such asnanotubes, nanohorns, and nanocapsules is also analyzed. The differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) results showed that the presence carbon nanostructures results in a shift of the onset andpeak temperatures towards lower values with further increase in carbon nanostructures concentrations.