Growth of carbon nanoflowers on glass slides using sparked iron as a catalyst

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were grown on glass slides using iron as a catalyst. By using 6 kV voltage, iron wire with 0.5 mm in diameter was sparked for 1, 2, 10 and 100 times to form iron dots/islands on the slides. CNTs were subsequently grown in a gas mixture of 10 ml/s Ar and 0.1 ml/s C2H2 at a temperature range of 700–900 K for 300 s (5 min). In scanning and transmission electron microscopies, the CNTs grown on iron dots appear like flowers composed of carbon with hexagonal structure. In addition, the effects of oxide and gold sputtering on the growth of CNTs were studied. Both have no major influence on the growth.