Growth of multiwalled carbon nanotube arrays by chemical vapour deposition over iron catalyst and the effect of growth parameters

Abstract Multiwalled carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays were grown by catalytic thermal decomposition of acetylene, over Fe-catalyst deposited on Si-wafer in the temperature range 700–750 °C. The growth parameters were optimized to obtain dense arrays of multiwalled CNTs of uniform diameter. The vertical cross-section of the grown nanotube arrays reveals a quasi-vertical alignment of the nanotubes. The effect of varying the thickness of the catalyst layer and the effect of increasing the growth duration on the morphology and distribution of the grown nanotubes were studied. A scotch-tape test to check the strength of adhesion of the grown CNTs to the Si-substrate surface reveals a strong adhesion between the grown nanotubes and the substrate surface. Transmission electron microscopy analysis of the grown CNTs shows that the grown CNTs are multiwalled nanotubes with a bamboo structure, and follow the base-growth mechanism.