Carbon nanotube formation from methane decomposition onto ferrocene-generated iron

The size of the synthesized iron nanoparticles was monitored by a differential mobility analyzer, and varied by varying ferrocene concentration. After an appropriate particle size was established the particles were deposited onto an alumina substrate, where the carbon nanotubes were grown. A typical particle concentration for iron was 3.0 × 10³/cc, with an average particle diameter of 20 nm at the outlet of the flow reactor and a geometric standard deviation of 1.5. After the particles were deposited on the alumina substrate, methane was introduced into the flow reactor where it catalytically decomposed to provide carbon for growth of carbon nanotubes on the iron particles. The nanotubes were examined with SEM and TEM. Iron particle size was varied to determine the effect of particle size on the growth and morphology of the carbon nanotubes. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 30th International Symposium on Combustion (Chicago, IL 7/25-30/2004).