Carbon Nanotube Synthesis on Stainless Steel for use in a Nanotube-Titanium Nitride Nanocomposite

We present a direct method to synthesize carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on stainless steel (SS) substrates by thermal chemical vapor deposition. The method was developed with SS plates and was applied to other geometries such as meshes and powders. The procedure, which includes etching the substrate in hydrochloric acid (HCl), heat treatment for 30 minutes followed by CNT synthesis, was optimized to obtain a uniform layer of CNTs on the substrate. CNT bundled growth was also observed at certain conditions. The nanocomposite was produced by coating the CNTs with titanium nitride (TiN) in a physical vapor deposition regime.