Influence of Hydrogen Pretreatment Condition on the Morphology of Fe/Al2O3 Catalyst Film and Growth of Millimeter-Long Carbon Nanotube Array

We systematically studied the influence of pretreatment condition on the morphology of Fe/Al2O3 catalyst film and growth of millimeter-long carbon nanotube array (CNTA). The experimental results confirm that the morphology and activity of the catalyst films are very sensitive to the pretreatment condition. A uniformly dispersed and densely packed catalyst monolayer with high activity, which can be used to synthesize a 1.2-mm-long CNTA, is prepared by annealing the Fe (1.2 nm)/Al2O3 (30 nm) film at 800 °C for 8 min in 50 sccm hydrogen. Enhanced pretreatment with H2 decreases the catalyst activity and suppresses the CNTA growth. The possible mechanism of catalyst annealing and CNTA growth is proposed and discussed for a better understanding of these phenomena.

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