The improvement of yield and thermal stability of single-walled carbon nanotubes fabricated by Gd-assisted FCCVD

In this work, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were synthesized by a scalable floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition (FCCVD) method, in which Gd was used as growth promotor to improve the yield and quality of SWNTs. Based on the characterization results of electron microscope, thermogravimetric analysis and Raman spectroscopy, the application of Gd leads to a great increase in the production of large-diameter SWNTs with a narrow diameter distribution and an enhanced thermal stability. The newly developed FCCVD technique makes it possible to produce large-diameter SWNTs at a low cost, and the generated structurally homogenous SWNTs are suitable for their applications in the fields of electronic systems and electromagnetic shielding, etc.