Turning refuse plastic into multi-walled carbon nanotube forest

Recent advancements in the use of plastics as a carbon source for carbon nanotubes synthesis - A review

Plastics, which majorly consist of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE)), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), etc., are the most abundant municipal solid wastes (MSW). They have been utilized as a cheap carbon feedstock in the synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) because of their high hydrocarbon content, mainly carbon and hydrogen, especially for the polyolefins. In this review, the detailed progress made so far in the use of plastics (both waste and virgin) as cheap carbon feedstock in the synthesis of CNTs (only) over the years is studied. The primary aim of this work is to provide an expansive landscape made so far, especially in the areas of catalysts, catalyst supports, and the methods employed in their preparations and other operational growth conditions, as well as already explored applications of plastic-derived CNTs. This is to enable researchers to easily access, understand, and summarise previous works done in this area, forging ahead towards improving the yield and quality of plastic-derived CNTs, which could extend their market and use in other purity-sensitive applications.

Carbon Nanostructures Production from Waste Materials: A Review

Research innovation in finding new carbon sources for carbon nanostructured material production was intensively done lately. In this review, we present the production of carbon nanostructures such as carbon fibers, nanotubes, nanowhiskers, microspheres and porous carbon from several waste materials. The benefit of the use of waste materials such as waste cooking palm oil, chicken fat, waste natural oil, glycerol, printed circuit board, plastic wastes, waste engine oil, scrap tyre, heavy oil residue and deoiled asphalt is not only in the term of their environmentally friendly approach but also the economic value to reduce the high cost of carbon material production using common sources. On the other hand, these materials are easy access sources and can be alternative utilization to convert waste materials into high value nanomaterials.