Substrate temperature effect on the growth of carbon nanowalls synthesized via microwave PECVD

A carbon nanowall (CNW) is a carbon-based nanomaterial that is constructed with vertical-structure graphenes. Thus, it effectively increases the reaction surface of electrodes. In this study, the substrate temperature effect on the growth of CNWs was investigated via microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) with methane (CH4) and hydrogen (H2) gases on silicon substrates. To find the growth mechanism of a CNW, its growth temperature was changed from 700 °C to 950 °C. The vertical and surface conditions of the grown CNWs according to the growth temperature were characterized via field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) measurements showed that the CNWs were composed solely of carbon.