Abstract
Understanding and controlling the dynamic self-assembly mechanisms of car- bon nanotube (CNT) forests is necessary to advance their technological im- pact. Here, in-situ environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis observes in real time the real- time nucleation, assembly, delamination, and self-termination of dense (> 109 CNT/cm2), tall (> 100 μm) CNT forests. Forest synthesis is continuously ob- served from nucleation to self-termination. Assembly forces generated near the substrate detach CNTs from the substrate, which simulation suggests requires between 3-12 nN of tensile force. Delamination initiates at both the CNT-catalyst and the catalyst-substrate interfaces, indicating multiple delamination mechanisms. Digital image correlation applied to SEM image sequences measures time-invariant strain within growing forests, indicating that forests grow as rigid bodies after liftoff. The Meta CoTracker algorithm measured CNT growth rates reduce from 50 nm/sec to full termination over 150 seconds. The kinematic behaviors we observe are foundational to under- standing the process-structure-property relationships of CNT forests.
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