Millimeter-Thick Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Forests: Hidden Role of Catalyst Support

Growth window and possible mechanism of millimeter-thick single-walled carbon nanotube forests.

Our group recently reproduced the water-assisted growth method, so-called "SuperGrowth", of millimeter-thick single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) forests by using C2H4/H2/H2O/Ar reactant gas and Fe/Al2O3, catalyst. In this current work, a parametric study was carried out on both reaction and catalyst conditions. Results revealed that a thin Fe catalyst layer (about 0.5 nm) yielded rapid growth ...

Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Electronics

Single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have emerged as a very promising new class of electronic materials. The fabrication and electronic properties of devices based on individual SWNTs are reviewed. Both metallic and semiconducting SWNTs are found to possess electrical characteristics that compare favorably to the best electronic materials available. Manufacturability issues, however, remain a...

Aligned Growth of Single-Walled and Double- Walled Carbon Nanotube Films by Control of Catalyst Preparation

Role of defects in single-walled carbon nanotube chemical sensors.

We explore the electronic response of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) to trace levels of chemical vapors. We find adsorption at defect sites produces a large electronic response that dominates the SWNT capacitance and conductance sensitivity. This large response results from increased adsorbate binding energy and charge transfer at defect sites. Finally, we demonstrate controlled introduc...

Single - Walled 14 . Single - Walled Carbon Nanotube Sensor Concepts

Carbon nanotubes are nanocomponents par excellence that offer unique properties to be exploited in next-generation devices. Sensing applications are perhaps the class that has most to gain from single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs); virtually any property of SWNTs (e.g., electronic, electrical, mechanical, and optical) can result or has already resulted in sensor concept demonstrators. The bas...