CVD oriented growth of carbon nanotubes using AlPO4-5 and L type zeolites

Control over single wall carbon nanotube structure, positioning and orientation is one of the main challenges for the development of carbon nanotube based electronics. A novel approach consists in placing carbon nanotubes catalyst inside the pores of a zeolite so that control over the nanotube diameter and its growth direction can be achieved. We present the relation between CVD process and carbon nanotube growth when placing the catalyst inside the pores of AlPO4-5 and L type zeolites. By SEM and Raman characterization, we have determined the influence of vacuum pre-treatment and catalyst activation steps. This is the first step towards obtaining batch synthesis of oriented nanotubes at wafer scale.