Low Temperature Growth of Carbon Nano-materials on Different Catalysts by the Surface-wave Plasma Technique

In this work, the microwave surface wave plasma (MWSWP) equipment is used to grow the carbon nano-materials at low temperature on different catalysts prepared by the so-called plasma assisted sol-gel synthesis method. Without any additional heating method, the plasma itself can heat up the substrate to about 280oC. By applying the -600V bias voltage, the substrate temperature can reach more than 330oC. The Ar/H2 plasma was utilized for pretreatment, and Ar/CH4 plasma for the growth of carbon nano-materials. The optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was used to diagnose the components of plasma. At this low temperature, we would like to present different results. Without any bias voltage, Molybdenum (Mo) exhibited good catalytic property, and solid carbon nano-wires were obtained. Co and Ni proved to be better catalysts in the case of biasing the substrate, and carbon nanotubes (CNT) and carbon nanocones (CNC) growth on the Co and Ni, respectively.