A team of scientists (Dra. Luísa M. Marques and Prof. Edgar C. Fernandes) together with a Master student (Fabrício Monteiro) from Instituto Superior Técnico, IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, has developed in the Laboratory of Thermofluids, Combustion and Energy Systems the first carbon nanotube by controlling flame synthesis. This study will expand the scope of carbon materials synthesis using flame with enormous potential for large scale carbon nanotubes production. The first carbon nanotube morphology obtained by flame synthesis as can be seen in the figure 1:
Figure 1: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs for first Carbon Nanotube morphology obtained by flame synthesis.
Research team said, “Presently this method is raising considerable interest for the production of carbon nanotubes because flame control mechanisms enable manipulation of the synthesized carbon nanotubes, which is crucial for application in nano-mechanical and electrical instruments, and also it opens the possibility to explore the use of biofuels in the context of CO2 neutral path”.