A temperature window for ethanol chemical vapor deposition of a carbon nanotube array catalyzed by Co particles

With ethanol chemical vapor deposition (CVD), vertically grown carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays were synthesized controllably on Si substrates, using cobalt (Co) as a catalyst. The effect of the Co particle size, growth temperature and ethanol pressure on nanotube growth has been investigated. It is shown that a vertically grown nanotube array can be grown within a temperature window from 500 to 700 °C. Our experiment offers a new route by which CNT arrays might be continuously and inexpensively produced at a relatively low temperature and also suggests that ethanol CVD is a potential method for low-temperature growth of CNTs.

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