Patent Application: US-54181400-A

Abstract:
carbon material having at least a partially curved structure , such as a nanotube , produced by a displacement reaction in which a carbon halide , e . g . c 2 cl 6 , is reacted with a metal compound , e . g ., lithium acetylide in the presence of a catalyst , e . g ., cocl 2 . some applications of the nanotubes of the present invention are use in magnetic data storage media , or use as conductors or semiconductors .

Description:
the present invention relates to a method for the high yield synthesis of carbon nanotubes and metal encapsulated within a carbon lattice structure . the reaction is a rapid , self - propagating , double - displacement or metathesis reaction involving a carbon compound , such as a halogenated carbon compound , a halogenated hydrocarbon or a hydrocarbon , with a metal or metal carbon compound in the presence of a catalyst . the reaction is performed at an ambient temperature with stoichiometric amounts of well - mixed reactant powders in a stainless steel reaction vessel . the reaction is initiated by an ignition source such as a resistively heated nichrome wire ( t ≈ 1100 k ), after which the reaction becomes self - propagating and produces the desired material along with salt by - products ( e . g . licl , nacl ). in general , the displacement or metathesis reaction is highly exothermic due to the formation of very stable salt by - products . the heated wire initiates the chemical reaction , which then becomes self - propagating . although the exothermic reaction is conveniently initiated by the heated wire , other heating methods can be used : external methods , such as direct heating of the walls of the container with heating tape , flames , or lasers ; or internal methods , such as the use of microwave energy or friction such as ball milling . although the reaction took place in a steel reaction vessel , other containers can be used such as glass ampoules . the reaction container could be open as well as closed . the salt by - products are easily removed by washing with water or alcohol allowing for the isolation of the desired product , carbon nanotubes and / or graphite encapsulated metal . the method can be described by reference to the following : r n  x y  h z + m x ′  r y ′  ( n + y ′  ( y 2 ) )  r + y m  m   x m + z 2  h 2 ( 1 ) r is carbon , n is a number from 1 to a million or more , preferably 1 to 1000 , preferably still 1 to 100 ; x is selected from the halide group consisting of fluorine , chlorine , bromine , and iodine , y is 0 to a million or more ; h is hydrogen , z is a number from 0 to a million or more ; m x ′ r y ′ is a metal compound capable of forming a salt , m is any of the group 1 , 2 , or 13 metal ion capable of forming a salt ; x ′ is a number from 1 to a million or more , preferably 1 to 3 ; y ′ is a number from 0 to a million or more , preferably 0 to 3 , most preferably x ′= y ′= 2 ; and m is a number from 1 to a million or more , preferably 1 or 2 . preferably the carbon compound is hexachloroethane and the metal compound is lithium acetylide . all reactants used were anhydrous . the reactions were performed in an inert atmosphere of helium , although other gases could be used . an inert atmosphere is not necessary , but a dry atmosphere will keep water from reacting with and decomposing the precursors . the following examples were performed in a helium filled drybox , in which the steel reaction container was located . the addition of the transition metal catalyst cocl 2 to the reaction mixture leads to the production of mwnts , swnts , and co metal encapsulated in graphite . the addition of other transition metal catalysts such as : nicl 2 or fecl 3 to the reaction mixture leads to the production of mwnts and ni or fe metal , respectively encapsulated in a carbon lattice structure . no swnts were seen in samples that did not have the cocl 2 catalyst in the starting reactant mixture . any free cobalt , nickel , or iron formed in this reaction can be removed by washing in a strong concentrated acid , for example sulfuric , nitric , or hydrochloric acid . without the addition of the catalyst , the reaction results only in crystalline , layered graphite . by decreasing the amount of cocl 2 added , for example from 5 mole percent to 2 mole percent , the yield of swnts decreases significantly while the yield of mwnts and graphite encapsulated co metal remained fairly constant . the ideal amount of cocl 2 catalyst for producing swnts is 5 mole percent . overall nanotube yield ( both swnts and mwnts ) increases with increasing reaction size . the yield of co , ni , or fe metal encapsulated in graphite can be increased by increasing the amount of cocl 2 , nicl 2 , or fecl 3 catalyst from 5 mole % to 10 mole %. analysis of the products by tem indicates that at this catalyst concentration , metal nanoparticles encapsulated in graphite are greatly favored over nanotubes . in addition , any unfavorable by - products , such as free graphite or free metal can be removed by washing in a strong , concentrated acid such as concentrated sulfuric , nitric or hydrochloric acid . surprisingly , the nanoparticles of co , ni , or fe encapsulated in the carbon lattice structure were unaffected by the acid , indicating that they are totally encapsulated , as seen in fig2 c . open sheets of graphite and free metal , however , are readily dissolved . furthermore , the carbon encapsulated cobalt , nickel or iron nanoparticles are stable for extended periods of time ( at least 2 weeks and likely indefinitely ) in concentrated nitric acid . the use of different reactants or the addition of inert salt additives such as nacl or licl , can alter the reaction temperature and exothermicity of each reaction . the maximum reaction temperature of the reaction of example 1 is calculated to be in excess of 2000 ° c ., which is several hundred degrees higher than the normal reaction temperature used previously to produce swnts [ guo , t ., et al ., supra ]. the driving force in solid - state metathesis reactions is the formation of the very stable salt by - product . the more moles of salt produced in a reaction , the more exothermic a given reaction . by increasing the moles of carbon produced per mole of salt , the reaction exothermicity decreases thereby lowering the maximum reaction temperature as calculated assuming complete reaction at adiabatic conditions . for example , if the number of carbons , n , is increased from 1 to 100 in the following reaction : less licl salt is produced with respect to moles of carbon and the maximum temperature can be lowered by 60 ° c . ( from 2029 to 1969 ° c .). by increasing the number of carbons , n to 1000 , the effect on the maximum reaction temperature diminishes and the maximum reaction temperature drops by only an additional 1 ° c . thus , increasing the length of the carbon chain in the halogenated carbon compound decreases the maximum reaction temperature . a more dramatic effect on the maximum reaction temperature is achieved by using a halogenated hydrocarbon , c n cl x h y . if the number of carbons , n , is held constant ( n = 1000 ): c n cl x h y +( x / 2 ) li 2 c 2 →( n + x ) c + x licl +( y / 2 ) h 2 and the ratio of y to x is increased from 0 to 6 , the maximum reaction temperature is predicted to drop by 925 ° c . ( from 1968 to 1043 ° c .). these temperatures are well within the temperature range in which swnts are synthesized . similar effects are seen with carbon fluorides , c n f x h y in the following reaction with lithium acetylide : c n f x h y +( x / 2 ) li 2 c 2 →( n + x ) c + x lif +( y / 2 ) h 2 if the number of carbons , n is held constant ( n = 1000 ) and the ratio of y to x is increased from 0 to 6 , the reaction temperature drops by 384 ° c . ( from 1584 to 1200 ° c .). the lower temperatures are again well within the temperature range in which swnts are synthesized . long - chain halogenated hydrocarbons , such as the polymers , polyvinylchloride and polyvinylidene chloride are promising precursors in solid state metathesis reactions . by lowering the maximum reaction temperature and exothermicity , the yield of mwnts to swnts to other by - products can be altered and optimized . the ability to alter these parameters makes the displacement reaction , preferably the double displacement reaction a useful method for synthesizing carbon materials . in order to synthesize carbon nanotubes , both single - walled and multi - walled , as well as carbon encapsulated metal , a variety of carbon producing reactions were used . both ssm reactions ( also known as double displacement reactions ) and single displacement reactions were used . in the following examples , x - ray diffraction and tem studies were carried out to characterize the synthesized samples . in this example 0 . 0078 moles of lithium acetylide ( li 2 c 2 ) was reacted with 0 . 0026 moles of hexachloroethane ( c 2 cl 6 ) in the presence of 0 . 0011 moles ( 5 mole % based on c ) of cocl 2 catalyst as given in equation ( 2 ). all reactants were mixed simultaneously and completely , using an agate mortar and pestle , until the individual reactants were no longer visible . the mixing time was approximately 5 minutes . the reactants were placed in a steel container and placed in contact with a nichrome wire . current was passed through the wire for approximately a few seconds , causing the wire to be resistively heated . the heat from the wire initiated the reaction , which was otherwise exothermic . the reaction went to completion in less than 1 second . products were washed in deionized water to remove any salt by - products and dried in air . the powder x - ray diffraction pattern of the products of reaction ( 2 ) with the cocl 2 catalyst indicated the formation of polycrystalline graphite , as seen by the peak at 26 degrees two theta in fig1 and cubic cobalt metal . this peak is representative of the interplanar spacing of carbon - carbon layers . the most crystalline graphite was found in this example . upon further investigation by tem , many nanophase materials were found . these nanophase materials comprised mwnts , swnts , as well as cobalt nanoparticles encapsulated within graphitic shells . nanotubes ( both swnts and mwnts ) comprised between approximately 10 % to 20 % by volume , of the total yield of product . the remainder of the sample yield was metal nanoparticles encapsulated with a carbon lattice structure . the greatest number of swnts were synthesized using 5 mole % cocl 2 catalyst , as seen in fig2 b . as seen in the tem image of fig2 a , some of the mwnts extended up to 50 nm or more in length and possessed a bamboo - like structure . the distance between the layers in the mwnts was 0 . 34 nm ( 3 . 4 å ), as expected for carbon - carbon layers . the swnts , as seen in fig2 b , appeared to grow from a graphite and amorphous carbon mix and were about 2 . 9 nm in diameter and approximately 10 nm in length . cobalt nanoparticles were also found to be encapsulated in layers of a carbon lattice structure , as seen in fig2 c . these nanoparticles were found to be stable with respect to oxidation by air or concentrated nitric acid , indicating the that graphitic shells were closed . the procedures of example 1 were followed by substituting 2 mole % cocl 2 for the 5 mole % cocl 2 . the powder x - ray diffraction pattern of the products of reaction ( 2 ) with 2 mole % cocl 2 catalyst indicated the formation of polycrystalline graphite and cubic cobalt metal . upon further investigation by tem , many nanophase materials were found . these nanophase materials comprised mwnts , swnts , as well as cobalt nanoparticles encapsulated within layers of a carbon lattice structure . the yield of swnts decreased significantly and the yield of mwnts and co nanoparticles encapsulated in graphitic shells remained fairly constant . the procedures of example 1 were followed by substituting 4 mole % cocl 2 for the 5 mole % cocl 2 and the reaction scale was decreased to { fraction ( 1 / 10 )} th the original size . tem indicated that the overall nanotube yield decreases significantly . thus , nanotube yield is dependent on reaction size such that the yield of nanotubes increases with increasing reaction size . the procedures of example 1 were followed by substituting 10 mole % cocl 2 for the 5 mole % cocl 2 . the powder x - ray diffraction pattern of the products of reaction ( 2 ) with 10 mole % cocl 2 catalyst indicated the formation of polycrystalline graphite and cubic cobalt metal . upon further investigation by tem , nanophase materials were found to comprise mwnts and cobalt nanoparticles encapsulated within layers of a carbon lattice structure . the procedures of example 1 were followed by substituting an approximately equal molar amount of 5 mole % nicl 2 for the 5 mole % cocl 2 . tem studies indicated that the products consisted of mwnts and ni nanoparticles encapsulated in graphitic shells . the ni nanoparticles were similar to the co nanoparticles formed when the cocl 2 was used . they were spherical in shape and encapsulated completely in graphitic shells . the procedures of example 5 were followed by substituting 10 mole % nicl 2 for the 5 mole % nicl 2 . tem indicated that by increasing the percentage of nicl 2 catalyst from 5 to 10 %, the yield of ni nanoparticles encapsulated in graphitic shells increased . the yield of nanotubes remained fairly constant . the procedures of example 1 were followed by substituting 2 mole % of fecl 3 for 5 mole % cocl 2 . tem studies indicated that the products consisted of mwnts and fe nanoparticles encapsulated in graphitic shells . the fe nanoparticles were spherical in shape and encapsulated completely in graphitic shells . they were similarly resistant to oxidation by air and strong acid , indicating complete encapsulation . the procedures for example 1 were followed by substituting 10 mole % fecl 3 for 2 mole % fecl 3 as example 7 . tem indicated that by increasing the percentage of fecl 3 catalyst from 5 to 10 %, the yield of fe nanoparticles encapsulated in graphitic shells increased . the yield of nanotubes remained fairly constant . the procedure of example 1 was followed with the exception that no catalyst was used . tem and x - ray diffraction studies indicated that the product was graphite only . the procedure of example 1 was followed by substituting polytetrafluoroethylene for the halogenated carbon compound , hexachloroethane . tem indicated the synthesis of mwnts , swnts , and co nanoparticles encapsulated in a graphitic shell . the procedure of example 1 was followed by substituting a copolymer of polyvinylidene chloride and polyvinylchloride for the halogenated carbon compound , hexachloroethane . tem indicated the synthesis of mwnts , swnts , and co nanoparticles encapsulated in a graphitic shell . the procedure of example 1 was followed by substituting a copolymer of polyvinylidene chloride and polyvinylchloride for the halogenated carbon compound , hexachloroethane and substituting 10 mole % fecl 3 for the 5 mole % cocl 2 . tem indicated the synthesis of mwnts , swnts , and fe nanoparticles encapsulated in a graphitic shell . all of the fe nanoparticles appeared to be completely encapsulated in graphitic shells when this halogenated hydrocarbon was used in lieu of hexachloroethane . in this example 0 . 0052 moles of magnesium was reacted with 0 . 0026 moles of carbon tetrabromide ( cbr 4 ) in the presence of 0 . 0011 moles ( 10 atomic percent ) of cocl 2 catalyst as given in equation ( 3 ). 0 . 5 moles of n ( ch 3 ) 4 br was added to the reaction mixture , as an inert salt additive to control the reaction temperature . tem results indicated the product was mwnts and co nanoparticles encapsulated in graphitic shells . the procedures of example 1 were followed by substituting an halogenated hydrocarbon , hydrocarbon , or halogenated carbon compound for the halogenated hydrocarbon , hexachloroethane , by substituting a metal or metal carbon compound for lithium acetylide , or a combination thereof . the procedures in example 1 were followed by reacting lithium acetylide ( li 2 c 2 ) with carbon tetrabromide ( cbr 4 ) as given in equation ( 4 ): the procedures in example 1 were followed by reacting hexachloroethane ( c 2 cl 6 ) with magnesium as given in equation ( 5 ): the procedures in example 1 can be followed by substituting a polymer carbon halide , such as polyvinylidene chloride , polyvinyl chloride , or polytetrafluoroethylene , for the carbon halide hexachloroethane . the procedures of examples 1 to 9 can be followed with the addition of an inert salt additive , such as nacl or licl , to lower the reaction temperature . the following references are incorporated herein by reference : ebbeson , t . w ., et al ., nature , vol . 358 : 220 - 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