Growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes from ceramic particles by alcohol chemical vapor deposition

Al(2)O(3) ceramic nano-particles, which were regarded as an inactive catalyst in the growth of carbon nanotubes in the past, have been prepared as the catalyst for single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) growth using an alcohol chemical vapor deposition method. Dense SWCNTs have been successfully synthesized, indicating that Al(2)O(3) serves as an efficient catalyst. Moreover, it was found that many SWCNTs were also grown from irregular large Al(2)O(3) particles ranging from several tens of nanometers to hundreds of nanometers, which has never been observed in the case of metallic catalyst particles. These results give more insights into the role of catalyst in SWCNT growth. (c) 2008 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.