title: Synthesis of Carbon Nanotube (CNT) Composite Membranes.
abstract: Carbon nanotubes are attractive approach for designing of new membranes for advanced molecular separation because of their unique transport properties and ability to mimic biological protein channels. In this work the synthetic approach for fabrication of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) composite membranes is presented. The method is based on growth of multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) using chemical vapour deposition (CVD) on the template of nanoporous alumina (PA) membranes. The influence of experimental conditions including carbon precursor, temperature, deposition time, and PA template on CNT growth process and quality of fabricated membranes was investigated. The synthesis of CNT/PA composites with controllable nanotube dimensions such as diameters (30-150 nm), and thickness (5-100 µm), was demonstrated. The chemical composition and morphological characteristics of fabricated CNT/PA composite membranes were investigated by various characterisation techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDXS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). Transport properties of prepared membranes were explored by diffusion of dye (Rose Bengal) used as model of hydrophilic transport molecule.
authors: School of Physical and Chemical Science, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia. alta0013@flinders.edu.au.
authors: Tariq
authors: T
authors: Altalhi
authors: School of Physical and Chemical Science, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia. milena.ginic-markovic@flinders.edu.au.
authors: Milena
authors: M
authors: Ginic-Markovic
authors: Ian Wark Research Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, Adelaide, SA 5095, Australia. hnhzzh@yahoo.com.cn.
authors: Ninghui
authors: N
authors: Han
authors: School of Physical and Chemical Science, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia. stephen.clarke@flinders.edu.au.
authors: Stephen
authors: S
authors: Clarke
authors: Ian Wark Research Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, Adelaide, SA 5095, Australia. dusan.losic@unisa.edu.au.
authors: Dusan
authors: D
authors: Losic