Abstract
Bulk production by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) of ultra-long Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) with lengths greater than several centimeters is desirable for materials applications, but is not presently feasible. A principal reason for this limitation is cessation of CNT growth due to erosion of the nano-sized catalyst particles from which the CNTs nucleate and grow: at elevated CVD growth temperatures, atoms of catalytic metal detach and diffuse away from the particles, resulting in erosion and eventual deactivation of the particles. Recently, a novel idea was introduced to slow this diffusion and erosion by including heavy refractory metals with the catalyst metals in the nanoparticles. Here are presented recent and ongoing investigations into this method. The metal system investigated uses iron as catalyst and rhenium as diffusion inhibitor. Results show that inclusion of Re in the catalyst particles will substantially increase the catalysts particle lifetimes, and hence the growth time of the CNTs produced. These results are compared to previous results obtained using the iron/molybdenum system of catalyst/inhibitor.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
B. Yacobson and R. Smalley American Scientist85, 324 (1997).
M. Meo and M. Rossi Composites Science and Technology66, 1597 (2006).
B. Peng, M. Locascio, P. Zapol, S. Y. Li, S. L. Mielke, G. C. Schatz, H. D. Espinosa Nature Nanotechnology3, 626 (2008).
K. R. Atkinson, S. C. Hawkins, C. Huynh, C. Skourtis, J. Dai, M. Zhang, S. L. Fang, A. A. Zakhidov, S. B. Lee, A. E. Aliev, C. D. Williams, R. H. Baughman Physica B: Condensed Matter394, 339 (2007).
M. Zhang, K. R. Atkinson, R. H. Baughman Science306, 1358 (2004).
R. F. Zhang, H. H. Xie, Y. Y. Zhang, Q. Zhang, Y. G. Jin, P. Li, W. Z. Qian and F. Wei Carbon52, 232 (2013).
M. J. Bronikowski Carbon107, 297 (2016).
M. J. Bronikowski and M. King, MRS Advances4 (3–4), 197–204 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1557/adv.2018.666
M. J. Bronikowski J. Phys Chem. C111, 17705 (2007).
J. H. Hafner, M. J. Bronikowski, B. R. Azamian, P. Nikolaev, A. G. Rinzler, D. T. Colbert, K. A. Smith and R. E. Smalley Chem. Phys. Lett.296, 195 (1998).
S. Huang, M. Woodson, R. E. Smalley, J. Liu Nano Letters4, 1025 (2004).
W. Cho, M. Schulz, and V. Shanov Carbon72, 264 (2014).
B. Kitiyanan, W. Alvarez, D. Harwell, and D. Resasco Chem. Phys Lett.317, 498 (2000).
G. Y. Xiong, D. Z. Wang, and Z. F. Ren Carbon44, 969 (2006).
Y. Yun, V. Shanov, Y. Tu, S. Subramaniam, and M. Schulz. J. Phys. Chem. B110, 23920 (2006).
A. Puretzky, D. Geohegan, S. Jesse, I. Ivanov, G. Eres. Appl. Phys. A81, 223 (2005).
Q. W. Li, X. F. Zhang, R. F. DePaula, L. X. Zheng, Y. H. Zhao, L. Stan, T. Holesinger, P. N. Arendt, D. E. Peterson, Y. T. Zhu Adv. Mater.18, 3160 (2006).
D. Futaba, K. Hata, T. Yamada, K. Mizuno, M. Yumura, S. Iijima Phys. Rev. Lett.95, 056104 (2005).
A. M. Cassell, J. A. Raymakers, J. Kong, H. J. Dai J. Phys. Chem. B103, 6484 (1999).
D. D. Venegoni, P. Serp, R. Feurer, Y. Kihn, C. Vahlas, P. Kalck, P. Carbon40, 1799 (2002).
H. Cui, G. Eres, J. Y. Howe, A. Puretkzy, M. Varela, D. B. Geohegan, D. H. Lowndes Chem. Phys. Lett.374, 222 (2003).
Ratke, Lorenz; Voorhees Peter W. (2002). “Growth and Coarsening: Ostwald Ripening in Material Processing.” Springer. pp. 117–118.
Yang, F.; Wang, X.; Zhang, D.; Yang, J.; Luo, D.; Xu, Z., et al.; Nature510, 522 (2014)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bronikowski, M.J., King, M. Rhenium and Molybdenum as Diffusion Inhibitors in Catalytic Metal Particles for growth of Ultra-Long Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs). MRS Advances 5, 1697–1704 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1557/adv.2020.162
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/adv.2020.162