Real-time monitoring of millimeter-tall vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotube growth on combinatorial catalyst library

The rapid growth dynamics of millimeter-tall, vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (VA-SWCNTs) was studied using a simple realtime monitoring method. By using combinatorial catalyst libraries, VA-SWCNT growth curves under various catalyst conditions were obtained in a single chemical vapor deposition (CVD) run. VA-SWCNTs grew at constant or gradually decreasing rates for several minutes and then abruptly ceased growth. This unusual behavior of the growth occurred under wide ranges of catalyst and CVD conditions.