Growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes

• Main Author: Lim, Li Ting.
• Other Authors: Zheng Lianxi
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/53301
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have gained much interest of the engineers and scientists since its discovery in the early 1990s. The SWNTs have been produced using various methods, of which the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method was seen as the most industrial scale viable method. The CVD method allows the SWNTs to be grown on a substrate which can then be used to test and analyse the SWNTs directly among other uses. In addition, the growth parameters of the SWNTs are most manageable and predictable from this method. The growth parameters of the SWNTs grown using the CVD method is analysed. The analysis will help to identify the effects with which the growth parameters have on the SWNT array synthesized. The growth conditions varied were the growth temperature, the pre-treatment time and the FeCl3 catalyst concentration. The SWNT arrays were further analysed through the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The images taken through the SEM brings forth the effects of the variance in the three experimental parameters. The electrical properties of the SWNT were identified through the application of the field effect transistor (FET), to test if the SWNT was metallic of semiconducting. The growth temperature and pre-treatment time were observed to play a significant role in the growth of the SWNT arrays. The higher growth temperature presents a much larger SWNTs growth count while a balance of a suitable pre-treatment time and minimisation of entanglement in the catalyst region was needed. The concentration of the catalyst needs to be managed in lower concentration to ensure sufficient growth space for the SWNTs to grow out of the catalyst region. The variation on the experimental parameters and the various effects the parameters have on the SWNT arrays will be further discussed.