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Growth of all-carbon horizontally aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes nucleated from fullerene-based structures
2013, Ibrahim, Imad, Zhang, Yang, Popov, Alexey, Dunsch, Lothar, Büchner, Bernd, Cuniberti, Gianaurelio, Rümmeli, Mark H.
All-carbon single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were successfully synthesized, nucleated using a fullerene derivative. A systematic investigation into the initial preparation of C60 fullerenes as growth nucleators for the SWCNTs was conducted. Enhancement in the yield of the produced SWCNT has been achieved with exploring different dispersing media for the fullerenes, the period, and environment of the initial thermal treatment of the fullerenes in addition to the use of different fullerene-based structures. The systematic studies significantly advance our understanding of the growth of the all-carbon catalyst-free single-walled carbon nanotubes. Field-effect transistors were fabricated using the catalyst-free SWCNT and then electrically characterized, showing current capacity as high as the well-studied catalyst-assisted nanotubes.
Synthesis of carbon nanotubes with and without catalyst particles
2011, Rümmeli, Mark Hermann, Bachmatiuk, Alicja, Börrnert, Felix, Schäffel, Franziska, Ibrahim, Imad, Cendrowsk, Krzysztof, Simha-Martynkova, Grazyna, Plachá, Daniela, Cuniberti, Gianaurelio, Büchner, Bernd
The initial development of carbon nanotube synthesis revolved heavily around the use of 3d valence transition metals such as Fe, Ni, and Co. More recently, noble metals (e.g. Au) and poor metals (e.g. In, Pb) have been shown to also yield carbon nanotubes. In addition, various ceramics and semiconductors can serve as catalytic particles suitable for tube formation and in some cases hybrid metal/metal oxide systems are possible. All-carbon systems for carbon nanotube growth without any catalytic particles have also been demonstrated. These different growth systems are briefly examined in this article and serve to highlight the breadth of avenues available for carbon nanotube synthesis.