Patent ID: 7968072

Claim:
A method of preparing a composition of matter wherein carbon nanotubes are simultaneously formed and filled with metallic-nanoparticles prepared by in-situ arc discharge in solution comprising the steps of: a) selecting a cylindrical reactor cell consisting of i) a double walled glass with 2 cm thickness, on two sides of a cylindrical cell having an inner diameter of 10 cm, for flowing of cold water at 7° C. to cool the cell; ii) a cell cavity with a pair of inlets and a pair of outlets, wherein a first inlet is paired with a first outlet connected to the volume between the double glass walls for the flow of chilled water, and a second inlet is used for filling the cell with a solution for the arc-discharge reaction and is paired with a second outlet for filtering out the encapsulated and decorated carbon nanotubes formed in the cell; iii) a first stainless steel plate covering the top of the cylindrical reactor cell that connects to an anode and a second stainless steel plate covering the bottom of the cylindrical reactor cell that connects to a cathode; and iv) a direct current power supply system connecting to both the anode and the cathode that are immersed in the solution for the arc-discharge reaction; b) preparing a metallic compound solution comprising a metallic compound powder, de-ionized water, and hydrochloric acid in a container; c) using the second inlet to fill the cell cavity with the metallic compound solution; d) immersing a graphite electrode assembly, having two graphite electrodes, wherein the electrode assembly consists of one electrode acting as a cathode and another electrode acting as an anode, into the metallic compound solution; e) connecting the graphite electrodes to a direct current power supply; f) bringing the electrodes into contact with each other to strike an arc and create an in-situ arc-discharge, wherein the temperature at the site of the arc-discharge is greater than 3000° C.; g) vaporizing the metallic compound solution to leave a residue of a plurality of metallic-nanoparticles; h) separating the electrodes to sustain the arc inside the solution; i) forming graphene layers that roll away from the electrodes thereby forming graphitic carbon nanotubes that simultaneously encapsulate the metallic-nanoparticles; j) flowing chilled water at a temperature of approximately 7° C. through the first inlet of the cell to facilitate cooling; and k) collecting metallic-nanoparticles entrapped in carbon nanotubes.