Growth Mechanism and Selective Synthesis of SWNTs

TL;DR

This paper reviews the growth mechanisms of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), introduces a method for controlling their diameter via Alcohol Catalytic CVD, and proposes a simple growth model to enhance understanding and synthesis.

Contribution

It presents a partial control method for SWNT diameter using ACCVD and introduces a simple growth model to clarify growth mechanisms.

Findings

Diameter depends on catalyst size and species

Partial control of SWNT diameter achieved

Proposed growth model explains SWNT formation

Abstract

Ever since the landmark discovery of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in 1993, they have been considered as ideal materials for any kind of application based on their outstanding properties (e.g. mechanical strength, thermal conductivity, ultra stability, etc.), and various techniques, including laser furnace technique, arc discharge technique, and recently, Catalytic Chemical Vapor Deposition (CCVD) technique, have been developed for the high-quality macroscopic generation. Recently Hata et al. realized the macroscopic production after great efforts of many scientists ; however, the growth mechanisms are still unclear and this incomplete knowledge prevents us from applying SWNTs to any fields. Here we can partially control the diameter distribution of SWNTs using Alcohol Catalytic CVD (ACCVD) technique and well combined catalysts. Their diameter is quite depend on the size of catalyst and their species, that is why this can be a technique to control SWNTs, and finally we propose the simple growth model.