Carole Emilie Baddour

Title : Towards the growth of carbon nanotubes inside cylindrical stainless steel geometries

Abstract:

Researchers have been investigating carbon nanotube synthesis on stainless steel because it is a readily available substrate which contains an abundance of one of the popular transition metals used as a catalyst. The aim of this study is to extend a growth method developed by the author to cylindrical geometries, specifically to grow carbon nanotubes inside a cylinder. This method allows the bulk metal surface to act as both the catalyst and support for the CNT growth and eliminates the requirement of adding an additional catalyst in the process. As a proof of concept, the procedure was optimized and the ideal conditions were determined using a cylinder that is cut in half along its longitudinal axis. Carbon nanotubes were successfully grown uniformly inside the half cylinder by thermal chemical vapor deposition using acetylene as a carbon source and nitrogen as a carrier gas. These results are promising, and the next step is to apply the ideal conditions to uncut cylinders.

Biography:

Baddour is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania USA. She received her PhD from McGill University in Montréal, Québec, Canada and her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. Her broad research interests are in nanomaterials and their applications. She won Wilkes University’s Innovative and Non-Traditional Teaching Award in 2020. She is passionate about students, teaching, research, professional development, and she is the ABET coordinator for Mechanical Engineering.