Acetylene: A Key Growth Precursor for Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Forests

作者：Zhong G^*; Hofmann S; Yan F; Telg H; Warner J H; Eder D; Thomsen C; Milne W I; Robertson J

来源：Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2009, 113(40): 17321-17325.

DOI：10.1021/jp905134b

The growth of tall, single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) forests is often believed to require the use of specific feedstocks (e.g., ethanol) or etchants (e.g., water). Here, oil the basis of mass spectrometry for hydrogen-diluted methane in a microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) reactor, we develop a purely thermal CVD process tor SWNT forests without an etchant gas. The thermally grown SWNT forests are found to have a similar high quality, purify. growth rate, areal density, diameter, and chirality distribution as in the PECVD case. We Show that C(2)H(2) is the main growth precursor, and Suggest more generally that feedstock conversion to C(2)H(2) is of key importance to SWNT forest CVD. A reactive etchant, Such as water. atomic hydrogen, or hydroxyl radicals, can widen the SWNT forest deposition window but is not required in cold-wall reactors at low pressures.