Role of hydrogen diffusion in temperature-induced transformation of carbon nanostructures deposited on metallic substrates by using a specially designed fused hollow cathode cold atmospheric pressure plasma source

Abstract

Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are grown on inconel substrates under two different experimental conditions using atmospheric pressure glow discharge radio-frequency (RF) PECVD process. A specially designed hollow cathode is used for this plasma generation. The growth is carried out at 610 and 660 °C substrate temperatures on inconel substrates. Our results show that CNFs and CNTs could be synthesized at 610 and 660 °C respectively irrespective of pre-treatment methods in either set. HRTEM results indicate that a temperature-induced transformation of CNFs into CNTs occur when the growth temperature is raised from 610 to 660 °C. With the help of characterization results and a schematic model, it is shown how an increase in hydrogen diffusion (~44% increase) plays a pivotal role in this transformation by providing a sink for hydrogen atoms. Field emission results show that most defective CNFs contribute to the maximum emission current density. This better field emission behavior is explained on the basis that the outer surfaces of CNFs are more defective due to the presence of the open edges of the graphene planes, which results in better field emission from the outer surfaces of the CNFs.