Single-walled carbon nanotubes catalytically grown from mesoporous silica thin film

A new technique of synthesizing single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) from a thin film of SBA-16 type mesoporous silica (MPS) on a Si substrate was developed. The alcohol catalytic CVD method was employed for the low temperature synthesis of SWNTs to minimize the sintering of catalytic metals and damaging of the MPS structure. The role of MPS layer is discussed based on SEM and Raman analyses, in comparison with the reference experiments made using Si substrates coated with silica thin films. This technique suggests a possibility of synthesizing SWNTs at well-defined intervals utilizing the periodic structures of MPS.