Arc Discharge Carbon Nanoonions Purification by Liquid-Liquid Extraction

TL;DR

This paper presents a simple liquid-liquid extraction method to purify carbon nanoonions produced by arc discharge, significantly increasing their surface area and enabling better characterization of their size distribution.

Contribution

The study introduces an effective purification technique for carbon nanoonions using water-toluene extraction, improving their surface area and facilitating detailed analysis.

Findings

Purification increased specific surface area from 14.7 to 170 m²/g.

Particles diameter ranged between 20 to 30 nm after purification.

Microscopy confirmed effective removal of impurities.

Abstract

Carbon nanoonions are novel carbon nanoestructures that have potential applications in fields like electronics and chemical catalysis. Here we report a very simple but effective method of purifying carbon nanoonions produced by submerged arc discharge in water based on the water-toluene liquid-liquid extraction. Purified and non-purified samples were characterized by atomic force microscopy, high resolution transmission electronic microscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller gas adsorption isotherms method. Microscopy results showed a good purification and allowed the assessment of the particles diameter distribution. Specific surface area was measured showing a great increment from (14.7 +- 0.3) m2/g for the non-purified sample to (170 +- 3) m2/g for the purified sample. Average particles diameter was also assessed from the adsorption isotherms; the diameter values obtained by the three techniques were in good agreement being between 20 to 30 nm.