Chemical vapor deposition of methane for single-walled carbon nanotubes

We report the synthesis of high-quality single-walled carbon nanotubes SWNT by chemical vapor deposition CVD of methane at 10008C on supported Fe O catalysts. The type of catalyst support is found to control the formation of individual 23 or bundled SWNTs. Catalysts supported on crystalline alumina nanoparticles produce abundant individual SWNTs and small bundles. Catalysts supported by amorphous silica particles produce only SWNT bundles. Studies of the ends of SWNTs lead to an understanding of their growth mechanism. Also, we present the results of methane CVD on supported NiO, CoO and NiOrCoO catalysts. q 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

[1]  N. Rodriguez,et al.  Catalytic Growth of Carbon Nanofibers and Nanotubes , 1994 .

[2]  T. Ichihashi,et al.  Single-shell carbon nanotubes of 1-nm diameter , 1993, Nature.

[3]  G. Tibbetts.  Carbon fibers produced by pyrolysis of natural gas in stainless steel tubes , 1983 .

[4]  W. Goddard,et al.  CATALYTIC SYNTHESIS OF SINGLE-LAYER CARBON NANOTUBES WITH A WIDE RANGE OF DIAMETERS , 1994 .

[5]  S. Seraphin.  Single‐Walled Tubes and Encapsulation of Nanocrystals into Carbon Clusters , 1995 .

[6]  K. J. Hüttinger,et al.  Carbon fibers, filaments, and composites , 1990 .

[7]  R. Baker,et al.  Catalytic growth of carbon filaments , 1989 .

[8]  S. Iijima,et al.  Fibrilliform growth of carbon nanotubes , 1997 .

[9]  M. S. de Vries,et al.  Cobalt-catalysed growth of carbon nanotubes with single-atomic-layer walls , 1993, Nature.

[10]  X. B. Zhang,et al.  A Formation Mechanism for Catalytically Grown Helix-Shaped Graphite Nanotubes , 1994, Science.

[11]  W. K. Maser,et al.  Large-scale production of single-walled carbon nanotubes by the electric-arc technique , 1997, Nature.

[12]  A. Rinzler,et al.  SINGLE-WALL NANOTUBES PRODUCED BY METAL-CATALYZED DISPROPORTIONATION OF CARBON MONOXIDE , 1996 .

[13]  Young Hee Lee,et al.  Crystalline Ropes of Metallic Carbon Nanotubes , 1996, Science.

[14]  G. Tibbetts,et al.  An adsorption-diffusion isotherm and its application to the growth of carbon filaments on iron catalyst particles , 1987 .

[15]  R. Grauer.  Bentonite as a Backfill Material in a High-Level Waste Repository , 1994 .

[16]  Malcolm L. H. Green,et al.  Mechanical damage of carbon nanotubes by ultrasound , 1996 .

[17]  G. Tibbetts.  Vapor-grown carbon fibers: Status and prospects , 1989 .

[18]  Gary G. Tibbetts,et al.  Why are carbon filaments tubular , 1984 .