Synthesis and Characterization of Carbon Nanotubes Using a Natural Precursor: Turpentine Oil

Pure Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been efficiently synthesized from Turpentine oil using Fenanoparticles as a catalyst and also without the use of catalyst by simple Chemical Vapour Deposition(CVD) method at 900 °C. Turpentine oil (C10H16), a plant-based precursor was used as a source ofcarbon and argon as a carrier gas. The CNTs have been grown directly inside the quartz tube. The asgrown carbon nanotubes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmissionelectron microscopy (TEM), and X- Ray diffraction (XRD) studies. The XRD data indicated thepresence of a high degree of crystallanity and the graphitic nature of the synthesized tubes. Thesetubes have been found to have outer diameters between 12 and 15 nm.