Micro fluid contact printing of sol-gel-derived in-situ formed catalysts for the structured growth of carbon nanotubes

We present a novel method for the structured growth of carbon nanotubes using micrometer scaled dots of iron doped alumina and titania as catalyst system. To obtain the dots, sol-gel derived inks are deposited on quartz glass surfaces via a novel micro fluid contact printing (µFCP) method basing on inorganic inks and an Ormocer® hard stamp, and consolidated by a heat treatment. Multiwalled Carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) with and without bamboo-like morphology were obtained on this catalytic ceramic dots using a hot filament CVD process based on CH4/Ar/H2 gas mixtures.