Nickel Nanoparticle Catalyzed Growth of Multiwall CNTs on Copper thin Films Substrate

Abstract

Significant applications of metallic nanocatalysts motivated us to study the role of catalyst contents by choosing Cu–Ni nanocatalyst in synthesizing carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Cu–Ni thin films were prepared by RF sputtering method with different deposition time of Ni. They inserted the prepared catalysts into a quartz tube reactor for carbon nanotubes fabrication. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) recorded the diameter distribution of multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) while atomic force microscopy (AFM) was applied for surface roughness estimation. Both analyses confirm the positive effect of deposition time on the catalytic properties of Cu/Ni nanocatalysts which ends to the improved quality of prepared CNTs. In addition, the structure of multi walled carbon nanotubes were investigated by Raman spectroscopy.