Recent Developments in the Growth and Properties of Carbon Nanotubes and Carbon Nanostructures: A Review

ABSTRACT

Carbon nanotubes, carbon nanostructures, and carbon metal composites are grown using microwave plasma–enhanced chemical vapor deposition and laser ablation processes. Iron (Fe), aluminum (Al)-Fe, and nickel (Ni)-Fe films with a thickness of 10 nm are used as catalysts for the growth of these carbon nanostructures (CNSs). It was found that the morphology and hence surface density of CNSs changed by varying the catalysts. The changes in the morphology were related to the electron field emission results carried out using a diode setup. The field enhancement factor (β) was found to be maximum (9574) for Al-Fe-catalyzed CNTs compared to Fe-catalyzed CNTs (7324).

KEYWORDS:

• Carbon nanotubes
• field emission
• chemical vapor deposition

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to Dr. S. Srivastava and Dr. S. Chhoker for their suggestions and to Dr. D. C. Sharma for his cooperation in SEM studies. The authors are also thankful to Rishab Sharma Singh for HRTEM studies. The financial support of the Ministry of Information Technology (MIT), government of India, is gratefully acknowledged.