A simple method of producing aligned carbon nanotubes from an unconventional precursor – Camphor

Vertically aligned multi-wall carbon nanotubes of diameter 20–40 nm and length ∼200 μm were grown on quartz substrate by pyrolyzing camphor with ferrocene catalyst at 900 °C in argon atmosphere at ambient pressure. Catalyst requirement with camphor was found to be low by a factor of 10 as compared to available reports of aligned nanotubes from conventional precursors. Because of the low catalyst requirement with camphor, as-grown nanotubes are least contaminated with metal particles, whereas the oxygen atom present in camphor helps in oxidizing amorphous carbon in-situ, eliminating the need of post-deposition purification. Good graphitization of the tube layers was observed by TEM, whereas high purity was confirmed by EDX analysis. The estimated yield of as-grown nanotubes is ∼90%.