Synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotubes in reduced air atmosphere by DC arc discharge

Abstract

Low-cost, high-quality single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been firstly synthesized by DC arc discharge using low-pressure air as buffer gas and Fe-S as the catalyst. Numerous experiments show that the best growth condition of SWNTs is the steady air pressure from 6 to 12 KPa via controlling the input and output of air flow. The as-synthesized SWNTs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results suggest that as-synthesized SWNTs have high crystalline and low impurities, and the diameter distribution ranges from 1.5 to 6.0 nm. This approach opens up new possibilities for low-cost synthesis of high-quality SWNTs. Show more