Effects of Deposition Conditions on the Structure and Chemical Properties of Carbon Nanopipettes

Abstract Carbon nanopipettes (CNPs) are integrated devices combining a nanometer‐size carbon tip with a glass pipette. The carbon tip is produced by catalytic CVD. In this paper, it is demonstrated that the structure of the CNPs can be controlled by varying the synthesis parameters. Increased carbon graphitization is observed as the synthesis temperature increases from 890 °C to 950 °C. A similar effect is achieved by lowering the carbon precursor (methane) concentration from 60% to 20%. Changes in the amount of catalyst do not have a significant effect on the carbon graphitization. At the same time, CNPs with relatively large amounts of hydrogen bonds on the surface are obtained by using a high methane concentration. This finding is used to facilitate the functionalization of the CNPs with gold nanoparticles.