Important parameters for the catalytic nanoparticles formation towards the growth of carbon nanotube aligned arrays

Presented here is a systematic study on the experimental parameters involved in the formation of catalytic nanoparticles from homogeneous Ni films deposited by dc sputtering towards carbon nanotube (CNT) production on Si/SiO2. We have found a critical temperature and time for the thermal and reduction pre-treatment processes to obtain catalyst nanoparticles with the appropriate size and high density suitable for CNT growth. From such nanoparticles, densely-packed aligned CNT arrays were successfully grown at 750–800°C by thermal CVD.Funded by MEC (MAT2002-04630-C02-01 and TEC2004-05098-C02-02). E.T. sincerely acknowledges I. Tacchini for his effort in the SEM characterization.Peer reviewe