Single-walled carbon nanotubes synthesized by chemical vapor deposition of C2H2 over an Al2O3 supported mixture of Fe, Mo, Co catalysts (original) (raw)

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been successfully synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using acetylene (C 2 H 2 ) gas as a carbon source and a mixture of Fe/Mo/Co on an Al 2 O 3 support as a catalyst. The effects of the weight percentage (wt%) of metals in the Fe/Mo/Co/Al 2 O 3 catalysts, growth time, gas flow rate and growth temperature on SWCNT growth were studied in detail. The optimum growth conditions were found to be a growth time of 60 min, a growth temperature of 750 • C, Ar/H 2 /C 2 H 2 flow rates of 420/100/14 sccm and a catalyst composition of Fe/Mo/Co/Al 2 O 3 = 5/3/1/80 (wt%). The morphologies and structures of the grown SWCNTs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy techniques.