Influence of catalyst oxidation on the growth of nitrogen-containing carbon nanotubes for energy generation and storage applications

Abstract

The importance of catalytic oxidation effect on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as evidenced from the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and surface morphology studies is reported. The correlation reveals that the packing densities of the CNTs grown by oxidized Fe catalysts are denser than grown by elemental Fe catalysts. The function of catalyst oxidation treatment is to prevent the reaction of Fe catalysts with the Ti-buffer layer, thereby providing well-dispersed Fe nanoparticles for the growth of uniform CNTs. The closely packed CNTs grown on Ti-buffered Si are promising for energy generation/storage device applications. © 2007.