Effect of gaseous and condensate products of ethanol decomposition on aerosol CVD synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotubes

In this study, the gaseous and condensate products of ethanol decomposition during the synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) by aerosol chemical vapor deposition (floating catalyst CVD) method were investigated. To determine the conditions for perfect and clean SWCNT formation the products synthesized at different temperatures and collected inside and outside the reactor were studied by transmission electron microscopy, Raman, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and optical absorption spectroscopy. The individual and bundled SWCNTs of a predominantly small diameter (∼1 nm) were revealed. The obtained tubes exhibit a stable distribution of chiral indices in a wide range of the set temperature (750–1000 °C), which is promising for the development of controlled synthesis methods. The FT-IR analysis results show that the main gaseous products of thermal ethanol decomposition in our CVD system are methane and carbon monoxide. Acting as carbon source, the mixture of CO and CH4 makes possible to produce pure SWCNTs, as those obtained in the catalytic CO disproportionation method, with higher yield, taking into account twice the amount of carbon release during CH4 catalytic pyrolysis. The carbon deposit on the reactor wall is found to play important role in maintaining an optimal regime of CNT synthesis.