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Decoupling the catalyst reduction and annealing for suppressing Ostwald ripening in carbon nanotube growth

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Abstract

The formation and morphological control of catalyst nanoparticles (CNPs) are crucial for reliable carbon nanotube (CNT) growth. Effects of catalyst reduction and annealing on CNP formation and coarsening are key parameters that need to be elucidated. Here, we decoupled catalyst reduction and high temperature annealing of catalysts in order to investigate their roles and respective effects on CNP formation, evolution and morphology which are critical for controlling diameter-, density- and length-dependent morphologies of CNTs. We found that catalyst reduction at low temperature was not sufficient to form CNPs and it needed to be followed by exposure of Fe catalyst to high temperature for annealing. High temperature without the catalyst reduction did not help forming CNPs. When the catalyst reduction and high temperature annealing were coupled, it induced CNP coarsening via Ostwald ripening causing bimodal and sparse CNP formation. A recipe, consisting of low temperature catalyst reduction and subsequent exposure to high temperature for annealing in an inert gas environment, mitigated Ostwald ripening and was favorable to form uniform and dense CNPs. Diameters and densities of resulting CNTs showed proportionality to CNP morphologies. In addition, height of vertically aligned CNT (VACNT) forests linearly decreased with increasing catalyst reduction temperature.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) under Career Development Program (CAREER) (grant number 118M586).

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  1. Department of Physics, Polatlı Faculty of Science and Letters, Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, 06900, Ankara, Turkey

    O. Tolga Gul

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Gul, O.T. Decoupling the catalyst reduction and annealing for suppressing Ostwald ripening in carbon nanotube growth. Appl. Phys. A 127, 762 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-021-04916-9

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