Influence of Metals and Reaction Conditions on the Chemical Vapor Deposition Production of Carbon Nanotubes over Sol-gel Catalysts

Gaining knowledge on the effect of the different parameters that take part in the production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is crucial in order to optimize the synthesis method of such materials. The fact that different potential applications need carbon nanotubes with specific properties and that those properties are very sensitive to synthesis conditions make the control of the production process even more important. Nevertheless, in order to apply these materials to certain applications such as hydrogen adsorption (where high capacity selective adsorbents are needed) and energy storage, easily scalable processes for massive production of CNTs in high yields are still required in order to make the synthesis costly efficient. Thus, this communication studies the influence of the catalysts and reaction conditions on the production of carbon nanotubes by the CVD method which has been claimed as the best one for large-scale production [1].