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Very long carbon nanotubes

Nature volume 394, pages 631–632 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes1 can now be produced in large quantities by either arc methods2,3 or thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons4,5. Here we report that pyrolysis of acetylene over iron/silica substrates is an effective method with which to produce very long, multiwalled carbon nanotubes that reach about 2 mm in length, which is an order of magnitude longer than that described in most previous reports1,2,3,4,5,.

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Figure 1: Low-magnification scanning electron microscope images of aligned carbon nanotube arrays.
Figure 2: Scanning and transmission electron microscope images of nanotubes after 48 hours of growth.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100080, Beijing, China

    Z. W. Pan, B. H. Chang, C. Y. Wang, L. Lu, W. Liu, W. Y. Zhou & W. Z. Li

  2. Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100080, Beijing, China

    S. S. Xie

  3. Department of Physics, Central University of Nationalities, 100081, Beijing, China

    L. X. Qian

Authors
  1. Z. W. Pan
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  2. S. S. Xie
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  3. B. H. Chang
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  4. C. Y. Wang
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  5. L. Lu
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  6. W. Liu
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  7. W. Y. Zhou
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  8. W. Z. Li
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  9. L. X. Qian
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Pan, Z., Xie, S., Chang, B. et al. Very long carbon nanotubes. Nature 394, 631–632 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/29206

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