Evaluation of the Effect of Ni-Co NPs for the Effective Growth of Carbon Nanotubes by TCVD System

A systematic study was conducted to understand the influences of catalyst combination as Ni-Co NPs on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition (TCVD). The DC-sputtering system was used to prepare Co and Ni-Co thin films on silicon substrate. NiCo nanoparticles were used as metal catalyst for growing carbon nanotubes from acetylene (C2H2) gas in 850 C during 15 min. Carbon nanotubes grown on Co and Ni-Co deposited on Si substrates was characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Raman spectroscopy. Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) measurements were used to investigate the elemental composition of the nickel and cobalt nanocatalysts deposited on Si substrates. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was used to characterize the surface morphology of the nanocatalysts. It was found that by the addition of Ni NPs thin layer on Si substrate for Co NPs catalyst, density of the grown CNTs is much decreased in comparison to Co NPs on Si substrate.