Diffusion-controlled kinetics of carbon nanotube forest growth by chemical vapor deposition

A detailed theoretical study of carbon nanotube (NT) forest growth by chemical vapor deposition is given, including (i) ballistic mode of carbon species impingement into the NT surface, (ii) the carbon diffusion over NT surface and through the metal nanoparticle, and (iii) the temperature drop at the NT tip occurring with increase in NT length. For typical NT forest growth parameters the ballistic flux of carbon species impinging into the NT surface decays quasiexponentially within several microns from the top. A variety of feasible growth modes, ranging from linear to exponential versus time, is predicted agreeing well with reported experiments. The presence of a metal nanoparticle is shown to shift NT growth from being surface diffusion controlled to being controlled by bulk diffusion through the nanoparticle. For typical growth conditions the growth rate is shown to be controlled simultaneously by surface diffusion over NT surface and bulk diffusion of carbon through metal nanoparticle. However, even i...

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