Influence of total gas flow on carbon nanotube forests synthesised by water-assisted chemical vapour deposition

Abstract

The influence of total gas flow on the growth of carbon nanotube (CNT) forests in water-assisted chemical vapour deposition has been investigated. It was found that the average height of the CNT forests decreased gradually from 996.53 to 696.8 μm, and the growth yield decreased notably from 2.91 to 1.98 mg/cm2 as the total flow increased, but the crystallinity and thermostability of CNT forests increased with increasing total flow. Investigation on CNT growth kinetics suggested that increasing the total flow could decrease the growth rate and shorten catalyst lifetime because of decreased gas dwell time and enhanced subsurface diffusion of Fe catalyst. © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2013.