Abstract
(English)
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The Network has 10 partners. All the partners have been working either in chemical engineering of heterogeneous catalysis processes or in the field of carbon nanotubes synthesis and characterisation.
The expertise in chemical engineering (Liege, Sophia Antipolis), in the synthesis of carbon nanotubes (Namur, Sophia Antipolis, Zaragoza), their physicochemical characterisation (Namur, Orleans, Budapest, Zaragoza, Szeged, Stuttgart, Lausanne) and the preparation of composite materials (Dublin, Stuttgart, Szeged, Orleans) are all represented in our team.
The reseach in the Swiss team in the first year followed the program. A tight collaboration was established with the Szeged-team. The main result of the first year is related to nanotube spirals.
We investigated the influence of catalyst preparation on the growth of coil-shaped nanotubes by varying the pH of the solution during catalyst impregnation, to elucidate their formation process. The spirals were observed by transmission electron microscopy, and we determined the dimensions of these coils for a large number of them, to compare them to straight nanotubes, and also to establish correlations between these dimensions and catalyst preparation. We also looked for the nature of curling at the nanometer scale. A growth mechanismfor these spirals is finally suggested.
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