An Advanced Carbon Nanotube-Graphene Hybrid Nanocomposite Prepared by Arc Plasma Technique for Various Critical Applications

Abstract

This study presents a hybrid nanocomposite consisting of carbon nanotubes combined with graphene, which was synthesized using arc plasma-treated graphite discs for durations of 10 and 15 minutes. This material is intended for a range of significant future applications, including hydrogen storage, sensors, supercapacitors, lithium-ion batteries, spintronics, and biomedical technologies, among others. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) peak intensity of C(002) is found to be significantly reduced for plasma-treated graphite because of the change of flaky microstructure of graphite into a composite form of carbon nanotube and graphene. The Raman result shows that 15-minute plasma-treated graphite has a bilayer form of graphene. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis reveals bunch of multiwall carbon nanotubes incorporated with a graphene structure produced after 10-15 minutes’ arc plasma treatment of graphite. These structures in bunches look like a spheroid in field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), when they are observed from the top view. The plasma treatment of graphite for 15 minutes has resulted significant increase in Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area and electrical conductivity, achieving 1401 m²/g ± 38 m²/g and (52.2 ± 2.1) ×10³ S/cm, respectively.