Carbon nanotubes are highly attractive for research purposes due to their field emission properties. However, when the nanotubes are vertically aligned on a substrate to form a continuous film, screening effect is observed, which reduces the efficiency. To densify the tubes into bundles and eliminate this screening effect, costly lithography patterning of catalysts and post-growth chemical treatments have been previously reported. In this work, we report a novel, cheap, and reproducible technique of densifying the growth of carbon nanotubes by utilizing a colloidal catalyst and microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. A qualitative investigation was carried out, and a possible densification mechanism was proposed.
This study reports a novel, cost-effective and reproducible method of densifying carbon nanotubes into bundles during growth stage. This is achieved by utilizing Fe3O4 catalyst nanoparticles and microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The grown CNTs were characterized using TEM, SEM and Raman spectrometer. The achieved site density of bundles is 5 × 109 m–2, with an inter-bundle distance of 14 μm and bundle height of 17 μm. A qualitative investigation was carried out, and a possible densification mechanism was proposed.
Article Highlights
A cost-effective method to form bundles of carbon nanotubes.
Densification of carbon nanotubes occurs during growth stage.
The resultant structures are desirable for electron field emission applications.
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