Structural and surface modifications of carbon nanotubes when submitted to high temperature annealing treatments

Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were synthesized using a chemical vapour deposition procedure using acetylene as source of carbon, iron pentacarbonyl as catalyst and an inert carrier gas. An aliquot of these MWCNTs was heat-treated at 2873 K under inert atmosphere (Ar). The two carbon nanotube samples where characterized using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption at 77 K, Raman spectroscopy, and immersion calorimetry in toluene, methanol and methylcyclohexane. HRTEM images confirmed that high-temperature treatment removed amorphous carbon, the graphene layers being better graphitized, and also some structural changes inside the cylindrical mesopores took place. Immersion enthalpies in toluene, in which molecules are present as aromatic functions, indicated the existence of specific pi-pi electronic interactions between such molecules and the surface of heat-treated MWCNTs. (c) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.