Predominant (6,5) Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Growth on a Copper-Promoted Iron Catalyst

Abstract

We have developed a magnesia (MgO)-supported iron-copper (FeCu) catalyst to accomplish the growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) using carbon monoxide (CO) as the carbon source at ambient pressure. The FeCu catalyst system facilitates the growth of small-diameter SWNTs with a narrow diameter distribution. UV-vis-NIR optical absorption spectra and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) mapping were used to evaluate the relative quantities of the different (n,m) species. We have also demonstrated that the addition of Cu to the Fe catalyst can also cause a remarkable increase in the yield of SWNTs. Finally, a growth mechanism for the FeCu-catalyzed synthesis of SWNTs has been proposed.

Recent Progress on the Growth Mechanism of Carbon Nanotubes: A Review

“…[193] They attributed the shows the state of the iron at the interface with the alumina. A significant contribution of Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ is observed, which supports the formation of a spinel-type mixed oxide at the interface.…”

Scalable Production of Nanostructured Particles using Atomic Layer Deposition

“…Moreover, supported active multi-component materials (e.g. multimetallic catalysts) can also be prepared via ALD either in a consecutive deposition scheme (He et al, 2010;He et al, 2012;Molenbroek et al, 1998) or-recently-a mixedmetal ALD process (Christensen et al, 2010;Lei et al, 2012). A schematic depiction of the different possibilities for ALD modifications of different functionalities is shown in Fig.…”

Direct growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes on substrates

“…There are also methods to selectively grow semiconducting or metallic SWNTs and even SWNTs with very narrow chirality. In theses reports, different catalysts such as Co-Mo, Fe-Co, Fe-Ru, Fe-Ni, Au, Fe-Cu, and CoMn, have been used to selectively grow SWNTs in bulkform [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Though separation treatments are not needed for these SWNTs, they still have to be dispersed in solution and patterned on the substrates for device fabrication.…”

“…Recently, many reports have shown that the composition, size, and structure of the catalyst particles may affect the structure of SWNTs [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. We should put more efforts on understanding the growth mechanism of SWNTs and the design of catalysts.…”