Abstract
We have succeeded in synthesizing vertically aligned doubled-walled carbon nanotube (DWNT) forests with heights of up to 2.2 mm by water-assisted chemical vapour deposition (CVD). We achieved 85% selectivity of DWNTs through a semi-empirical analysis of the relationships between the tube type and mean diameter and between the mean diameter and the film thickness of sputtered Fe, which was used here as a catalyst. Accordingly, catalysts were engineered for optimum DWNT selectivity by precisely controlling the Fe film thickness. The high efficiency of water-assisted CVD enabled the synthesis of nearly catalyst-free DWNT forests with a carbon purity of 99.95%, which could be templated into organized structures from lithographically patterned catalyst islands.
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Acknowledgements
We thank A. Maigne, T. Nakamura and Y. Kakudate for their helpful experimental support. We also gratefully acknowledge the helpful contributions by A. Otsuka, S. Yamada, M. Mizuno and T. Hiraoka. The partial support of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) Nano-Carbon Technology project is acknowledged.
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T.Y. and K.H. conceived and designed the experiment, T.Y. and T.N. performed the experiments, K.M. contributed to material preparation, and J.F. and M.Y. contributed to TEM observations. T.Y. and K.H. co-wrote the paper.
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Yamada, T., Namai, T., Hata, K. et al. Size-selective growth of double-walled carbon nanotube forests from engineered iron catalysts. Nature Nanotech 1, 131–136 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2006.95
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2006.95
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