Controlling high coercivities in cm-scale buckypapers with unusual stacking of vertically aligned and randomly entangled Fe-filled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

The synthesis of cm-scale buckypapers consisting of an unusual stacking of vertically aligned and randomly entangled Fe-filled carbon nanotubes is revealed through an advanced high flow-rate Cl-assisted chemical vapour deposition approach. The produced films show very attractive room-temperature coercivities as high as 1040 Oe (82 763 A m⁻¹), much higher than those reported in previous Fe-filled buckypapers reports. We attribute the high coercivity to the presence of pinning effects due to the unusual stacking of the two CNT morphologies. The high coercivity, high surface areas, well-ordered porosity and high magnetization make the produced films ideal candidates also for numerous other applications as data storage systems, molecular-capture material, filter membranes, scaffolds for retinal cell transplantation, immune shielding and flexible magnetic sensors.