This study reports the mechanical response of distinct carbon nanotube (CNT) morphologies as revealed by flat punch in situ nanoindentation in a scanning electron microscope. We find that the location of incipient deformation varies significantly by changing the CNT growth parameters. The initial buckles formed close to the growth substrate in 70 and 190 μm tall CNT forests grown with low press...

We describe an on-the-fly kinetic study of gas-phase growth of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. The methodology employs electrical mobility classification of the CNT, which enables a direct measure of CNT length distribution in an aerosol reactor. The specific experiment employs two mobility classification steps. In the first step we mobility classify the catalyst particle, in this case Ni, create...

We introduce RF nanoreceivers based on carbon nanotube (CNT) antennas. CNT-based nanoreceivers have been shown to operate in tens to hundreds of MHz range both in theory and practice. We show that a low cost combination of these receivers lead to linear increase in achieved data rate via ONOFF Keying (OOK). Due to extremely small scale of the CNTs, many hundreds of thousands of these receivers ...

One aspect of carbon nanotube (CNT) synthesis that remains an obstacle to realize industrial mass production is the growth efficiency. Many approaches have been reported to improve the efficiency, either by lengthening the catalyst lifetime or by increasing the growth rate. We investigated the applicability of dwell time and carbon flux control to optimize yield, growth rate, and catalyst lifet...

We report the controlled growth of ultralong single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) arrays using an improved chemical vapor deposition strategy. Using ethanol or methane as the feed gas, monodispersed Fe-Mo as the catalyst, and a superaligned carbon nanotube (CNT) film as the catalyst supporting frame, ultralong CNTs over 18.5 cm long were grown on Si substrates. The growth rate of the CNTs was mor...

Classical nucleation theory has been used in models of dust nucleation in circumstellar outflows around oxygen-rich asymptotic giant branch stars. One objection to the application of classical nucleation theory (CNT) to astrophysical systems of this sort is that an equilibrium distribution of clusters (assumed by CNT) is unlikely to exist in such conditions due to a low collision rate of conden...

This review article deals with the growth mechanism and mass production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Different aspects of CNT synthesis and growth mechanism are reviewed in the light of latest progresses and understandings in the field. Materials aspects such as the roles of hydrocarbon, catalyst and catalyst support are discussed. Many new catalysts and new ca...

Mass-selected, ligand-free Fe(N) clusters with N = 10-30 atoms (cluster diameter: 0.6-0.9 nm) were implanted into [Al@SiO(x)] surfaces at a low surface coverage corresponding to a few thousandths up to a few hundredths of a monolayer in order to avoid initial cluster agglomeration. These studies are aimed towards gaining an insight into the lower limit of the size regime of carbon nanotube (CNT...

Density functional theory calculations were used to investigate the stability of single walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) attached to nanoparticles. The total energies and the adhesion energies between the CNTs and the nanoparticles were calculated for systems where the nanoparticles were either pure Ni or Ni carbide. It was found that the adhesion between the CNT and a pure Ni cluster is stronger...