Growth of nanosized carbon structures with predefinite architectures

By means of a purpose designed HFCVD apparatus connected to a powder chamber we are able to produce a number of sp2 carbon based nanostructures: In this paper we describe a series of interesting carbon materials obtained using carbon nanopowders or graphite as reactant and allowing variation in catalyst concentration, deposition times, intensity of hydrogen flux. We investigated the effect of different carbon sources on the growth of SWCNTs and MWCNTs and the effect of catalyst density on self arrangement of nanotubes in the bundles. Finally we discuss the growth of diamond phase onto nanotube or C fibers surface. The variety in these obtained structures enlightens the versatility of our synthesis approach and stresses the importance of exploring the role of all synthesis parameters