Electrified synthesis of small-diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes via plasma-catalytic pyrolysis of methane

Electrified synthesis of small-diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes via plasma-catalytic pyrolysis of methane | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Electrified synthesis of small-diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes via plasma-catalytic pyrolysis of methane Jafar Fathi, Alan Mašláni, Michal Hlína, Dawid Janas, Alena Michalcová, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8801156/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Graphical Abstract Abstract Synthesis of small-diameter (ca. 1 nm) single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is rare due to the difficulty in establishing appropriate catalysts and environments that favor the generation of such species. However, because of their auspicious and structure-tunable electrical and optical properties, this goal remains at the focal point of numerous researchers. The development of a low-cost technique to create such materials could eliminate the main bottleneck hindering their widespread application. In this work, this objective was ultimately achieved by means of the Plasma-Catalytic Pyrolysis (PCP) process. The application of a DC water-stabilized plasma hybrid (WSP-H) torch within an entrained-flow reactor facilitated the breakdown of methane in the presence of an FeO micropowder (50 µm) catalyst. Consequently, high-quality SWCNTs and hydrogen were produced at a relatively large scale. Characterization of the resulting SWCNTs by microscopy and spectroscopy confirmed that the produced SWCNTs exhibited a large degree of structural perfection. Physical sciences/Chemistry/Energy Physical sciences/Chemistry/Catalysis/Catalytic mechanisms Physical sciences/Chemistry/Chemical synthesis/Nanoparticle synthesis Physical sciences/Materials science/Nanoscale materials/Carbon nanotubes and fullerenes Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Techniques and instrumentation/Design, synthesis and processing Plasma-Catalytic Pyrolysis Single-walled carbon nanotubes Methane pyrolysis Iron nanoparticle catalysis Full Text Additional Declarations Yes there is potential Competing Interest. Jafar Fathi, Alan Mašláni, and Ondřej Jankovský have a patent Method for Producing Composite Carbon and Metal Nanoparticles pending to PCT/CZ2025/050095. Other authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Supplementary Files VideoS2.mp4 Supplementary Video S2. In situ plasma catalytic synthesis of single walled carbon nanotubes from methane PlasmaCatalyticPyrolysisSI.docx Supplementary Information S Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8801156","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":586830946,"identity":"d32927ce-46d2-420a-8e47-a23e6f7c3736","order_by":0,"name":"Jafar Fathi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAvElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC9gYGNoaECgkStPAcYAZqOUOyFsY2UhzGw37+2IOH8yzyzBmYH378wWBnT1gLTzK7QeI2iWLLBjZjaR6GZGaCWuwZktkkgFoSNxzgYZBmYDjARtgW/sdALXPAWph//mAAaiSoRQJkSwNYC5sED8MBwmHHI/HYTCLhGNAvzWxm1jwGyQZEOCzxmeSPmro8c/bmxzd/VBARYjCQYAAOKsJ2IGshQfEoGAWjYBSMMAAAH8MvjOLoZPgAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7968-2520","institution":"Institute of Plasma Physics of Czech Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jafar","middleName":"","lastName":"Fathi","suffix":""},{"id":586830947,"identity":"3ebe889d-2141-458d-ade0-17f6f0f60be9","order_by":1,"name":"Alan Mašláni","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Plasma Physics of Czech Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alan","middleName":"","lastName":"Mašláni","suffix":""},{"id":586830948,"identity":"87a63790-c552-408f-9f9d-b70df7a95fb9","order_by":2,"name":"Michal Hlína","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Plasma Physics of Czech Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Michal","middleName":"","lastName":"Hlína","suffix":""},{"id":586830949,"identity":"3d341269-ef89-44ad-b258-cb5b1fa70f4d","order_by":3,"name":"Dawid Janas","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6003-3520","institution":"Silesian University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dawid","middleName":"","lastName":"Janas","suffix":""},{"id":586830950,"identity":"a4322490-102f-4f11-839d-965d3c05e2d0","order_by":4,"name":"Alena Michalcová","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alena","middleName":"","lastName":"Michalcová","suffix":""},{"id":586830951,"identity":"6b5dc9a8-a052-4fb4-be0a-76fc341e313c","order_by":5,"name":"David Sedmidubský","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"David","middleName":"","lastName":"Sedmidubský","suffix":""},{"id":586830952,"identity":"17c22227-466f-4268-8c72-9d14bb62bd43","order_by":6,"name":"Ondřej Jankovský","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ondřej","middleName":"","lastName":"Jankovský","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-05 23:00:30","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8801156/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8801156/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102520519,"identity":"8f991a17-534f-451c-894e-523256963604","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-12 14:30:37","extension":"png","order_by":13,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"graphical-abstract","size":57998,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Synthesis of small-diameter (ca. 1 nm) single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is rare due to the difficulty in establishing appropriate catalysts and environments that favor the generation of such species. 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