Growth and structure of carbon nanotubes based novel catalyst for ultrafast nano-temperature sensor application

Despite the progress and breakthroughs that have been made towards synthesis and characterization of carbon nanotubes, several questions regarding controlled synthesis processes remain unanswered, including the role of catalyst on the growth of CNTs. The development of novel methods and preparation of novel catalyst for tuning the carbon nanotubes (CNTs), with specific growth direction and size is highly recommended to reveal new aspects of their underlying science and to tailor them for clearly defined applications. In this letter, we report a novel strategy for synthesis of yttrium iron catalyst for lateral growth of CNT on silicon substrate via wet chemical route for the first time. The influence of catalyst molar ratio on the degree of graphitization of CNT was investigated by Raman spectroscopy. CNT with high degree of crystalline perfection is obtained at Y:Fe ratio 3:5. The influence of temperature on the resistivity of CNT was explored. The results depicts that the prepared CNT has a metallic behavior and these tubes have ultrafast response to temperature.

► Nobel metal alloy catalyst has been prepared at for the first time.
► CNTs grown on this catalyst have high degree of crystalline perfection.
► The CNTs grown on this catalyst showed metallic behavior.
► The grown CNTs have ultrafast response to temperature change about 0.6 ms.