Organized carbon-nanotubes grown by chemical vapor deposition with a gas-phase catalyst of iron pentacarbonyl

Organized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been synthesized by a gas-phase catalytic chemical-vapor-deposition technique with the iron pentacarbonyl-acetylene system at 750°C. The effects of the C₂H₂ flow rate, the supplying of Fe(CO)₅, the H₂ flow rate, and the N₂ atmosphere, on the CNT growth are investigated in this work. Acetylene as a carbon source can accelerate the CNT growth at a higher input under the co-existence of a high Fe(CO)₅ input. Hydrogen can de-activate the poised catalyst for growing long and organized CNTs. Nitrogen, on the other hand, is disadvantageous for the CNT growth.