Growth of carbon nanotubes from nanoparticulate catalysts generated by in situ laser ablation of metal targets

Bradley D. Fahlman, Leontios A. Nezeritis

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

A variety of metallic nanoparticles have been used to catalyze the growth of carbonaceous nanostructures (e.g., nanotubes, nanofibers, etc.). The most heavily used compositions include Fe, FexOy, Co, Ni, Ni/Y, and Co/Ni species. Carbon nanotubes are thought to grow from these catalysts via a vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism, which was first postulated ca. 30 years ago for the growth of semiconductor wires. We recently discovered a method to generate carbonaceous nanostructures via a surface-nucleation mechanism, whereby growth occurs at room temperature - far below the melting point of the catalyst seed. Whereas this method employed iron oxide nanoparticles encapsulated within a dendritic macromolecular host, we wish to simplify the nature of the catalyst through in situ generation of nanoparticles via laser ablation of metal targets with a Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm) within our reaction flask. The carbon source for nanostructural growth will be tetrachloroethylene, which will be dechlorinated through interaction with potassium metal within an organic solvent. The resultant product will be characterized by FESEM and TEM/EDS/EELS.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication233rd ACS National Meeting, Abstracts of Scientific Papers
StatePublished - 2007
Event233rd ACS National Meeting - Chicago, IL, United States
Duration: Mar 25 2007Mar 29 2007

Publication series

NameACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
ISSN (Print)0065-7727

Conference

Conference233rd ACS National Meeting
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityChicago, IL
Period03/25/0703/29/07

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