Water-Assisted Highly Efficient Synthesis of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Forests from Colloidal Nanoparticle Catalysts

J. Phys. Chem. C, 111 (48), 17961 -17965, 2007. 10.1021/jp0723719 S1932-7447(07)02371-0
Web Release Date: September 7, 2007

Water-Assisted Highly Efficient Synthesis of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Forests from Colloidal Nanoparticle Catalysts

Hidekazu Nishino, Satoshi Yasuda, Tatsunori Namai, Don N. Futaba, Takeo Yamada, Motoo Yumura, Sumio Iijima, and Kenji Hata*

Research Center for Advanced Carbon Materials, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1-1-1 Higashi Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565, Japan

Received: March 26, 2007

In Final Form: May 24, 2007

Abstract:

Highly efficient single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) growth from Fe-Mo nanoparticle catalysts made by colloidal synthesis is demonstrated by water-assisted chemical vapor deposition. In a 10 min growth time, SWNT forests with heights up to 1.5 mm were synthesized possessing a 2.8 nm average diameter, carbon purity above 99.99%, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 1200 m²/g, which rivals SWNTs grown from sputtered Fe thin films. Realization of high efficiency SWNT growth using catalysts prepared by economical and scalable wet processes opens up a cost-effective route toward the mass production of SWNT forests.

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