Controlled growth of Carbon Nanotubes using thermal CVD

Vertically aligned CNTs were grown on Fe-deposited $SiO_2$ substrates using thermal CVD of acetylene gas. The size of Fe particle is controlled by the flow rate of $NH_3$ and pretreatment time, which leads to control the diameter of CNTs. As the diameter of CNTs decreases, the growth rate is enhanced with an inverse dependence of the CNT diameter. The growth rate of CNTs increases linearly as the growth time increases until 30 min but is rapidly decreased over 40 min. We found an inverse relation between the diameter and growth rate of carbon nanotubes. As the diameter of CNTs increases, the compartment layers of bamboo-shaped CNTs appear more frequently. A base-growth model is suitable to explain the dependence of growth rate and structure of CNTs on the diameter size of catalytic particles.