Supported Catalytic Growth of SWCNTs using the CVD Method

The growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) from supported metal catalysts using the CVD method with CH4 as the carbon feedstock was investigated using SEM and TEM. Studies include the influence of the substrate structure, the metal catalyst content and other experimental parameters on the nature of the CNTs produced using calcined aluminium nitrate and delta-alumina nanoparticles (∼13nm). The iron catalyst precursors are ferric sulphate and also iron oxide nanoparticles. Using an aberration corrected STEM and a FEGTEM BF imaging has been used to identify symmetries of tubes produced, as well as a TEM-STM tip to measure I-V curves of SWCNTs. It appears the optimum iron precursor and catalyst support for production of SWCNTs is either ferric sulphate or iron oxide nanoparticles supported on deltaalumina nanoparticles