Effects of Hydrogen Pretreatment on Physical-Vapor-Deposited Nickel Catalyst for Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Growth

摘要

Physical vapor deposited nickel catalyst layers of 10, 50, 100, 200, 350, and 500 angstrom were granulated using hydrogen plasma for varying times to determine an effective carbon nanotube (CNT) growth process using microwave plasma enhanced CVD (MPECVD). Nickel was deposited via sputtering or evaporation. The catalyst granule size, density, and resulting CNTs were analyzed. Sputtered nickel of 50 angstrom with 5 minutes of hydrogen plasma pretreatment resulted in the most effective CNT growth.