K. Bladh et al., On the iron-catalysed growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes and encapsulated metal particles in the gas phase, APPL PHYS A, 70(3), 2000, pp. 317-322
The production of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) by catalytic dispro
portionation of carbon monoxide on iron particles in the gas phase was stud
ied. The addition of hydrogen to the reactants was found to increase the SW
NT yield relative to the competing formation of encapsulated iron particles
. Adding acetylene, however, did not result in a significant change of the
SWNT growth but gave rise to the formation of unwanted self-pyrolysis produ
cts. Iron particles are seen to decorate the SWNT and are shown to be singl
e crystalline with several layers of encapsulation by graphitic carbon. All
these observations are discussed with respect to the catalytic growth mech
anism of SWNT and encapsulated metal particles from CO and hydrocarbon mole
cules.