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Carbon nanotubes growth: From entanglement to vertical alignment
Author(s) -
Esconjauregui Santiago,
Fouquet Martin,
Bayer Bernhard,
Robertson John
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/pssb.201000116
Subject(s) - carbon nanotube , nucleation , materials science , nanotechnology , nanostructure , nanoparticle , nanotube , chemical engineering , yield (engineering) , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
By using oxidising environments during catalyst formation, SiO 2 ‐supported thin Ni films restructure into small nanoparticles of reduced mobility that nucleate vertically‐aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by base mode. Conversely, typical reducing environments yield entangled nanotubes only, which grow by tip mode. The selection of pretreatment environments proves control over nanotube morphology and growth mode, and can be of interest for the surface growth of other nanostructures.