Synthesis of carbon nanotubes in graphite microchannels in gas-flow and submerged-in-liquid reactors

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are synthesized on the surface of narrow graphite channels (slit width = 200 μm) by catalytic chemical vapor deposition in two different reactors, a gas-flow (GF)-reactor and a submerged-in-liquid (SIL)-reactor. Ethanol is used as carbon-source for the both reactors, and benzene is used for GF-reactor. In GF-reactor, it is observed that there is obvious distribution of the quality of CNTs depending on the carbon-source pressure profile. In SIL-reactor, the growth of CNTs is observed in the zone where the temperature is suitable for the growth of CNT. It is remarkable that CNTs are synthesized in SIL-reactor at a zone to which the carbon-source hardly reaches if GF-reactor is used.