title: Alignment and structural control of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes by utilizing precursor concentration effect.
abstract: Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) were prepared using a simple ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method. The precursor concentration effect was examined to effectively control alignment, open tip and diameter of the NCNTs by changing xylene/cyclohexylamine ratio. The structure and morphology of the resultant NCNTs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The degree of alignment and the diameter of the NCNTs increased as the xylene/cyclohexylamine precursor mixture was changed from 0 to 35% cyclohexylamine. This precursor composition also caused a large number of open-ended nanotubes to form with graphite layers inside the cavities of the NCNTs. However, further increase cyclohexylamine content in the precursor reduced the degree of alignment and diameter of the NCNTs. We demonstrate control over the NCNT alignment and diameter, along with the formation of open-ended nanotube tips, and propose a growth mechanism to understand how these properties are interlinked.
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan Province Key Laboratory for Spray Deposition Technology and Application, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Weina
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Aiping
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yina
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qunli
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tang