Growth Mechanism of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on Iron–Copper Catalyst and Chirality Studies by Electron Diffraction

Publication: Research - peer-reviewJournal article – Annual report year: 2012

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Chiralities of single-walled carbon nanotubes grown on an atomic layer deposition prepared bimetallic FeCu/MgO catalyst were evaluated quantitatively using nanobeam electron diffraction. The results reveal that the growth yields nearly 90% semiconducting tubes, 45% of which are of the (6,5) type. The growth mechanisms as well as the roles of different components in the catalyst were studied in situ using environmental transmission electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. On the basis of the understanding of carbon nanotube growth mechanisms, an MgO-supported FeCu catalyst was prepared by impregnation, showing similar catalytic performance as the atomic layer deposition-prepared catalyst, yielding single-walled carbon nanotubes with a similar narrow chirality distribution.
Original languageEnglish
JournalChemistry of Materials
Publication date2012
Volume24
Journal number10
Pages1796–1801
ISSN0897-4756
DOIs
StatePublished
CitationsWeb of Science® Times Cited: 4

ID: 10044010