Influence of the crystallinity of the iron catalysts on the formation of carbon nanotubes

In this work, carbon nanotubes and minor amount of Fe/C core–shell structure nanoparticles were simultaneously synthesized by catalytic pyrolysis of ferrocene. Through high-resolution TEM observation and ED characterization, the results showed that the well-crystallized iron nanoparticles could catalyze the formation of carbon nanotubes, while the amorphous iron nanoparticles could not catalyze the formation of carbon nanotubes but form the Fe/C core–shell nanoparticles.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideResearch highlights► The well-crystallized and amorphous iron particles as catalysts. ► Well-crystallized iron particles as catalysts can form carbon nanotubes. ► Amorphous iron particles as cores can form Fe/C core–shell nanoparticles.