Influence of hydrogen on chemical vapour synthesis of different carbon nanostructures using propane as precursor and nickel as catalyst

Abstract

The role of hydrogen in the catalytic chemical vapour deposition of carbon nanotubes using sputtered nickel thin film as a catalyst is explained in this work. The growth of different carbon nanostructures with the variation in the precursor gas content was studied by keeping all other process parameters constant and using sputtered Ni thin film as a catalyst. The catalyst granule size, its external morphology and the resulting products were analysed. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon nanofibres (CNFs) and carbon nanoribbons (CNRs) were observed under different growth conditions. The different conditions of growth leading to form tubes, fibres or ribbons were analysed by varying the flow ratio of propane and hydrogen gas during the high temperature growth. Scanning and transmission electron microscopies confirmed the above structures under different growth conditions. The role of hydrogen on the surface passivation behaviour of the Ni catalyst and its correlative effect on the growth of carbon nanostructures is analysed. This direct approach can, in principle, be used to synthesize different types of carbon nanostructures by tailoring the hydrogen concentration.