Preparation of FeCl3 Catalytic Films Using Dip Dry Method for the Growth of Carbon Nanotubes

Catalytic films of FeCl3 were coated on Si using simple and highly scalable technique of dip drying of silicon in aqueous FeCl3 solution. The catalyst coated samples were pretreated at 850oC to reduce the deposited FeCl3 into iron nanoparticles. The size distribution of nanoparticles was found to be strongly dependent on initial concentration of FeCl3 in aqueous solution. The catalytic activity of nanoparticles was ascertained by growthof carbon nanotubes using Chemical Vapour Deposition. The C2H2was used as the carbon precursed along with the carrier gas of H2 and NH3 .Characterization of the grown CNT revealed the direct relationship between the catalytic concentration and the diameter of carbon nanotubes.