Oxygen atom loss coefficient of carbon nanowalls

Extremely high values of atomic oxygen loss coefficient on carbon nanowall (CNW) surface are reported. CNW layers consisting of interconnected individual nanostructures with average length of 1.1 μm, average thickness of 66 nm and surface density of 3 CNW/μm2 were prepared by plasma jet enhanced chemical-vapor deposition using C2H2/H2/Ar gas mixtures. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectrometry (RS) as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The surface loss coefficient was measured at room temperature in a flowing afterglow at different densities of oxygen atoms supplied from inductively coupled radiofrequency O2 plasma. The RF generator operated at 13.56 MHz and different nominal powers up to 900 W corresponding to different O-atom density in the afterglow up to 1.3 × 1021 m−3. CNW and several different samples of known coefficients for heterogeneous surface recombination of neutral oxygen atoms have been placed separately in the afterglow chamber and the O-atom density in their vicinity was measured with calibrated catalytic probes. Comparison of measured results allowed for determination of the loss coefficient for CNWs and the obtained value of 0.59 ± 0.03 makes this material an extremely effective sink for O-atoms.