Oxidation kinetics of carbon nanoparticles produced by non-catalytic methane pyrolysis

This study compares the oxidation behavior and kinetics of carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) produced during non-catalytic methane pyrolysis (MP). The effects of production temperature (1200-1700 °C) on oxidation behavior were evaluated by non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) at heating rates of 5, 10, and 30 °C min −1 and compared with commercial rubber-grade and conductive carbon black (CB) samples. Oxidation resistance increased with production temperature up to 1450 °C, whereas sample produced higher temperatures showed increased reactivity despite continued graphitization. The observed reversal of the TGA trend may be associated with the changes in internal morphology visible in the TEM images, or the presence of inorganic contamination for the sample produced at 1700 °C. The samples produced between 1300 and 1500 °C exhibited oxidation characteristics comparable to those of commercial rubber-grade CB and some conductive CB grades. The results demonstrate that MP can produce CNPs with oxidation characteristics similar to commercial CB.