Reinforcement of CVD grown multi-walled carbon nanotubes by high temperature annealing

We report on the increase of the Young's modulus (E) of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) upon high temperature heat treatment. The post heat-treatment at 2200–2800ºC in a controlled atmosphere results in a considerable improvement of the microstructure, chemical stability and electro-physical properties of the nanotubes. The Young's modulus of MWNTs of different diameters was measured by the deflection of a single tube suspended across the hole of silicon nitride membrane and loaded by an atomic force microscope tip. Contrary to previous reports, a strong increase of E was feasible due to the improved growth conditions of pristine carbon nanotubes and to the improved heat treatment conditions. However, the elastic modulus of CVD grown MWNTs still shows strong diameter dependence resulting from the remaining structural inhomogeneities in large diameter nanotubes.