Ultra-high-yield growth of vertical single-walled carbon nanotubes: Hidden roles of hydrogen and oxygen.
An oxygen-assisted hydrocarbon chemical vapor deposition method is developed to afford large-scale, highly reproducible, ultra-high-yield growth of vertical single-walled carbon nanotubes (V-SWNTs). It is revealed that reactive hydrogen species, inevitable in hydrocarbon-based growth, are damaging to the formation of sp(2)-like SWNTs in a diameter-dependent manner. The addition of oxygen scavenges H species and provides a powerful control over the C/H ratio to favor SWNT growth. The revelation of the roles played by hydrogen and oxygen leads to a unified and universal optimum-growth condition for SWNTs. Further, a versatile method is developed to form V-SWNT films on any substrate, lifting a major substrate-type limitation for aligned SWNTs.
Zhang
Guangyu
G
Department of Chemistry and Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Mann
David
D
Zhang
Li
L
Javey
Ali
A
Li
Yiming
Y
Yenilmez
Erhan
E
Wang
Qian
Q
McVittie
James P
JP
Nishi
Yoshio
Y
Gibbons
James
J
Dai
Hongjie
H