Carbon nanotubes and nanofibers synthesized by CVD on nickel coatings deposited with a vacuum arc

Nanotubes and nanofibers were grown on Ni coatings deposited by plasma generated with a pulsed vacuum arc on silicon wafers using three different bias conditions: at floating potential (approximately +30 V respect to the grounded cathode); at ground potential; and at −60 V. An atomic force microscopy study showed that the Ni film morphology was affected by the bias condition of the substrate. The morphology of carbonaceous species depended on Ni-films characteristics. FE-SEM and TEM analyses have shown that nanofibers growth was favoured on Ni coatings deposited at −60 V whereas nanotubes grew mainly on Ni coatings obtained at floating and ground potentials. Hence, this new method to produce the precursor can be optimized to obtain nanotubes or nanofibers varying the substrate bias for the Ni deposition.