Synthesis and Characterization of Carbon Micro Balls from Graphite by the Arc Discharge Method

Arshad Hussain Wazir; Abdul Manan; Murad Khan; Imdad Ullah Qurashi; Wahib Noor Khan; Khurram Yaqoob; Safeer Ahmad

doi:10.21743/pjaec/2019.06.12

Authors

Arshad Hussain Wazir Carbon Materials Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Bannu, Bannu, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa 28100, Pakistan Author
Abdul Manan Laboratory for Research in Advanced Materials, Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology Bannu, Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa 28100, Pakistan Author
Murad Khan Laboratory for Research in Advanced Materials, Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology Bannu, Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa 28100, Pakistan Author
Imdad Ullah Qurashi Carbon Materials Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Bannu, Bannu, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa 28100, Pakistan Author
Wahib Noor Khan Carbon Materials Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Bannu, Bannu, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa 28100, Pakistan Author
Khurram Yaqoob School of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan Author
Safeer Ahmad Department of Physics, Islamia College, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa 25120, Pakistan Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21743/pjaec/2019.06.12

Keywords:

Arc discharge, Carbon micro balls, Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy

Abstract

During the arc discharge technique, a high direct current (DC) voltage powers have been employed by researchers for the fabrication of carbon materials, while in this reported technique, a very low DC power is used to produce carbon micro balls (CMBs). Wherein, the CMBs were synthesized
with a minimum capacity of current (1.5 amperes) and voltage (15 volts), and their structural properties were investigated. The electrochemical arc discharge was performed between two graphite rods inserted in an aqueous solution of 1% acetonitrile. The prepared CMBs were characterized using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and Energy Dispersive Xray (EDX) analysis for confirmation of their characteristic properties. The existence of spherical
shape and smooth surface of the CMBs was confirmed by SEM with diameters in the range of 80μ-300 nm, and the EDX analysis exhibited the composition of CMBs with atomic mass percents of carbon (88.35%) and oxygen (11.65%). Similarly, the XRD analysis revealed the crystalline
graphitic carbon nature of the CMBs with an average crystallite size calculated from the major diffraction peak using the Scherrer formula of about 40.59 nm. The FTIR analysis also showed the signs of the aromatic and oxygen functionalities present in the CMBs.