A simple thermal CVD method for carbon nanotube synthesis on stainless steel 304 without the addition of an external catalyst

A method is described to synthesize carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by thermal chemical vapour deposition (th-CVD) directly on stainless steel substrates of various geometries. This method allows the bulk metal surface to act as both the catalyst and support for the CNT growth, thus enhancing the contact and adherence of the tubes to the substrate and eliminating the requirement of adding an additional catalyst in the process. The procedure was optimized to obtain a uniform layer of CNTs on the substrate.