Well-ordered Co nanowire arrays for aligned carbon nanotube arrays

Well-ordered Co nanowire arrays formed on the porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates prepared by a two-step anodization technique have been used in the fabrication of well-aligned carbon nanotubes. Designed Co nanowire arrays can be made by controlling the pore arrays on AAO templates. By usin g them as a catalyst it is possible to fabricate the designed carbon nanotu be arrays. Carbon nanotubes fabricated by disproportionation of CO were wel l graphitized, uniform in diameter and aligned vertically with respect to t he plane of the template. It has been suggested that CO is an ideal precurs or in fabrication of carbon nanotubes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All r ights reserved.