Carbon nanostructure catalyst support
AssigneeHer Majesty the Queen in right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of National Defence of Her Majesty's Canadian Government
InventorsDaniel Cossement, Richard Chahine, Tapan K. Bose
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Abstract
Carbon nanostructures for use as catalyst supports in hydrogen fuel cells are produced by mixing a carbon material with at least one transition metal such as iron and cobalt, subjecting the mixture thus produced to mechanical grinding, e.g. ball milling in a hydrogen atmosphere for a time sufficient for hydrogen to be absorbed into the mixture, and heating the mixture in an inert atmosphere at a temperature sufficient to crystallize at least one of the carbon material and carbide nanocrystals.
Claims8
A method of producing carbon nanofibers and single or multiwalled nanotubes comprising the steps of:
- (a) mixing a carbon material with at least one transition metal to produce a mixture;
- (b) heating the mixture thus produced with hydrogen gas at a pressure of 0.1 to 21 Mpa;
- (c) subjecting the mixture obtained in step (b) to mechanical ball milling in a hydrogen atmosphere for a time sufficient for hydrogen to be absorbed into the carbon material;
- and
- (d) heating the mixture in an inert atmosphere at a temperature sufficient to crystallize at least one of the carbon material, carbide and metallic nanocrystals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.