The infinite possible growth ambients that support single-wall carbon nanotube forest growth

Abstract

We report the virtually infinite possible carbon feedstocks which support the highly efficient growth of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) using on the water-assisted chemical vapor deposition method. Our results demonstrate that diverse varieties of carbon feedstocks, in the form of hydrocarbons, spanning saturated rings (e.g. trans-deca-hydronaphthalene), saturated chains (e.g. propane), unsaturated rings (e.g. dicyclopentadiene), and unsaturated chains (e.g. ethylene) could be used as a carbon feedstocks with SWCNT forests with heights exceeding 100ums. Further, we found that all the resultant SWCNTs possessed similar average diameter indicating that the diameter was mainly determined by the catalyst rather than the carbon feedstock within this synthetic system. A demonstration of the generality was the synthesis of a carbon nanotube forest from a highly unorthodox combination of gases where trans-decahydronaphthalene acted as the carbon feedstock and benzaldehyde acted as the growth enhancer.