Amorphous Al-Cu alloy nanowires decorated with carbon spheres synthesised from waste engine oil

• Published in: Journal of Alloys and Compounds
• Main Author: Suriani A.B.; Alfarisa S.; Mohamed A.; Kamari A.; Hashim N.; Isa I.M.; Mamat M.H.; Malek M.F.; Ahmad M.K.
• Format: Letter
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2015
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84928681422&doi=10.1016%2fj.jallcom.2015.04.035&partnerID=40&md5=84545c691438f9afe10635b658d1f9fe

Abstract For the first time, amorphous aluminium-copper (Al-Cu) alloy nanowires decorated with carbon spheres (CS) were synthesised from waste engine oil (WEO) as a starting material. The synthesis process was carried out in two-stage thermal chemical vapour deposition system under typical synthesis condition of 5.33 wt% ferrocene as catalyst, precursor and synthesis temperature of 450 and 700°C, respectively. Metal contaminants of Al and Cu in WEO promote the growth of amorphous Al-Cu alloy nanowires and high carbon content in WEO undeniable promotes the growth of CS. Field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that the amorphous Al-Cu alloy nanowires dimension was about 120 nm in diameter and a few micrometres in length, while the diameter of CS were a few hundred nanometre to micrometre-sized. X-ray diffraction pattern of amorphous Al-Cu alloy nanowires revealed the formation of different Al-Cu phases. This study offers a new and simple technique to synthesise amorphous Al-Cu alloy nanowires decorated with CS from waste material namely WEO. The newly produced nanomaterials open up potential application in energy storage devices. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.