Establishing the most favorable metal–carbon bond strength for carbon nanotube catalysts
Abstract
We have studied a wide range of transition metals to find potential carbon nanotube (CNT) catalysts for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) production. The adhesion strengths between a CNT and a metal cluster were calculated using first principle density functional theory (DFT) for all 1st, 2nd and 3rd row transition metals. We have developed the criterion that the metal–carbon adhesion strength per bond must fulfill a Goldilocks principle for catalyzing CNT growth and used it to identify, besides the well known catalysts Fe, Co and Ni, a number of other potential catalysts, namely Y, Zr, Rh, Pd, La, Ce and Pt. Our results are consistent with previous experiments performed either in a carbon arc discharge environment or by a CVD-process with regard to CNT catalyst activity.
Please wait while we load your content...
