Synthesis of locally-ordered carbon nanotube arrays from patterned catalyst by self-assembly technique

Site-selective growth of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) from an iron oxide nanoparticle catalyst patterned by drying-mediated self-assembly technique is present. The ethanol solution of the iron nitrate was employed as catalyst precursor. The silicon wafer was mounted catalyst precursor by dip-coating. After solvent evaporation at room temperature, the catalyst pattern formed. The catalyst pattern was subjected to chemical vapor deposition of ethanol vapor after oxidation of iron nitrate. The patterned array of MWCNTs was obtained with a dot size of around 5 mu m and the distance between dots of about 25 mu m. The locally-ordered patterns of MWCNTs were found. The present method offers a simple and cost-effective method to grow carbon nanotubes with self-assembled patterns.