Facile synthesis of carbon nanotube/nanofiber paper on a water-soluble support in one-step by chemical vapor deposition

Spongy carbon nanotube (CNT) paper and herringbone carbon nanofiber (CNF) paper were produced on a NaCl support by a one-step low temperature chemical vapor deposition reaction using different catalyst nanoparticle preparation methods. Catalyst was formed as tablet to prevent the large amounts of catalyst nanoparticles in produced papers due to the CNT base growth mechanism. So after oxidation, only 5.52 wt% impurities remained in the paper. Therefore NaCl as support or filler in the catalyst tablet caused the easily removable support preparation because of its water solubility. The catalyst preparation method determined the catalyst nanoparticle configuration and thereby the structure of carboneous tubes in the synthesized papers. CNT paper changed to CNF paper by changing the precursor from inorganic to organometallic one in NaCl-supported Ni catalyst. Unsupported Ni catalysts with both of the precursors resulted in CNT papers with different diameter with respect to the precursor and the nanoparticle size. The key parameter in the procedure was the orientation of the gas stream towards the catalyst template. Feed gas flow rate and the type of carrier gas were important in the brittleness of the papers. The best results were achieved using laminar flow with small Reynolds numbers and hydrogen environment. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.