Modeling of the Growth Kinetics of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube Arrays on Planar Substrates and an Algorithm for Calculating Rate Coefficients of This Process

• Published in: Inorganic materials 2021, Vol.57 (1), p.20-29
• Main Authors: Bulyarskiy, S. V., Lakalin, A. V., Molodenskii, M. S., Pavlov, A. A., Ryazanov, R. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetylene; Algorithms; Ammonia; Argon; Arrays; Barrier layers; Buffer layers; Carbon; Carbon nanotubes; Catalysts; Chemical vapor deposition; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Inorganic Chemistry; Materials Science; Mathematical models; Nanoparticles; Pyrolysis; Substrates; Titanium nitride
• ISSN: 0020-1685; 1608-3172
• DOI: 10.1134/S0020168521010015

— We have constructed a physicomathematical model for carbon nanotube growth and compared calculation results obtained in this model with experimental data. In our experimental work, carbon nanotube arrays were grown by chemical vapor deposition in flowing acetylene, ammonia, and argon at temperatures from 550 to 950°C. As a catalyst, we used a 4-nm-thick nickel film on the surface of titanium nitride. The proposed model takes into account the pyrolysis of hydrocarbons on the surface of catalyst nanoparticles; the formation of a surface barrier layer, which slows down and stops nanotube array growth; and interaction of the buffer layer with carbon in the catalyst nanoparticles. In constructing the model, we have examined mechanisms of the individual processes involved and obtained temperature dependences of the rate coefficients that describe nanotube growth. It is these dependences which ensure good agreement between calculation results and experimental data.