Direct deposition of single-walled carbon nanotube thin films via electrostatic sprayassisted chemical vapor deposition

Abstract

In this work, electrostatic spray assisted chemical vapor deposition is used to directly depositsingle-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) thin films on a substrate. The catalyst solution wasfinely dispersed by a strong electrical field and injected into the heated reaction zone(950–1100 °C) during the growth. It was found that under optimized growth conditions, the depositedmaterial consists of SWNTs while only small amounts of impurities are observed. Thegrowth at different temperatures results in nanotubes of different length and morphology.The location at which the SWNTs deposit at the downstream end of the growthchamber is found to be affected by the nanotube length and the growth temperature,which can be understood by considering different forces acting on the floatingaerosol particles inside the furnace. These results suggest a potential for in situseparation of the SWNTs by applying different forces to the floating SWNTs.