One millimeter per minute growth rates for single wall carbon nanotube forests enabled by porous metal substrates

Abstract

We report an exceptionally high-efficiency synthesis of long single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) forests using porous substrates (metal meshes) in place of nonporous flat substrates. This study examined the dependence of the growth efficiency on various mesh structures, including wire diameter, aperture size, and total surface area. We demonstrated that the synthesis of SWCNT forests is highly dependent on the initial porosity as well as maintaining the open pores throughout the duration of the growth. Our results show that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be grown on all surfaces of the mesh in high efficiency with the optimum growth efficiency observed for a mesh porosity of ∼30%. Based on these results, we demonstrated the high efficiency synthesis of SWCNT forests (height: >3.47 mm, average growth rate: 301 μm min⁻¹, and yield: 12.7 mg cm⁻² in 10 min growth time). Furthermore, we showed that the initial growth rates exceeded 1 millimeter per minute (1000 μm min⁻¹). Our results further indicate that metal meshes represent a viable alternative to nonporous flat substrates for the efficient synthesis of tall and high yielding SWCNTs.