Cyclohexane triggers staged growth of pure and vertically aligned single wall carbon nanotubes

Ayala P; Grueneis A; Grimm D; Kramberger C; Engelhard R; Ruemmeli M; Schumann J; Kaltofen R; Buechner B; Schaman C; Kuzmany H; Gemming T; Barreiro A; Pichler T

Chemical Physics Letters, Vol.454, No.4-6, 332-336, 2008

DOI10.1016/j.cplett.2008.02.041 Export Citation

Cyclohexane triggers staged growth of pure and vertically aligned single wall carbon nanotubes

Ayala P, Grueneis A, Grimm D, Kramberger C, Engelhard R, Ruemmeli M, Schumann J, Kaltofen R, Buechner B, Schaman C, Kuzmany H, Gemming T, Barreiro A, Pichler T

An innovative staged chemical vapor deposition (SCVD) approach providing flexible control over the feedstock type during single wall carbon nanotube (SWNTs) growth is proposed. The efficiency of staged growth by means of a cyclohexane/methane system using thin film catalysts is here illustrated. The mechanism involves the nucleation stage efficiently triggered by cyclohexane, followed by methane assisting a growth stage yielding high purity SWNTs vertically aligned with lengths of several hundred film. In addition, SCVD also facilitates catalyst free SWNT detachment enabling repeated growth. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.