High-density growth of carbon nanotubes with catalytic sites activated on nickel substrate

We describe the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) from catalytic nanoparticles formed on a nickel surface. For the growth of CNTs, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) furnace was set up and ethanol was used as carbon source. Observation of SEM images shows that CNTs grew densely on the nickel surface and that nanoparticles play a key role in the growth of the CNTs. XRD and Raman analyses reveal that the obtained products have graphitic pattern of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Also HRTEM images confirm clearly that the product was a MWCNT and their diameter was in the range of 20–50 nm.