Response Surface Methodology for Optimizing Process Parameters for Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes

Response surface methodology was employed to optimize the synthesis parameters for Carbon nanotubes. Such optimization was undertaken to ensure a high efficiency over the experimental ranges employed and to evaluate the interactive effects of the temperature, catalyst amount, and volume of carbon for synthesis of Multi-walled carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) from methylated ester of Helianthus annuus oil on silica supported Fe/Mo catalyst by spray pyrolysis method. A total of 17 experimental runs were carried out employing the detailed conditions designed by response surface methodology based on the Box- Behnken design. The experimental confirmation tests showed a correlation between the predicted and experimental responses. The optimal point obtained was located in the valid region and the optimum adsorption parameters were predicted as a temperature of 668 0 C, a precursor volume of 21ml and catalyst weight of 0.78 g. Under these conditions, a highest yield of 75% was achieved from spray pyrolysis method.