PMS by Self-Assembly
PMS by Self-Assembly
PMS by Self-Assembly
Zh.E. Sartova
al-farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Almaty 2017
Classification of porous materials
3. TEM images
Order ,Morphohology ,
Wall thickness
Single-walled carbon nanotubes catalytically
grown from mesoporous silica thin film
A new technique of synthesizing single-walled carbon
nanotubes (SWNTs) from a thin film of SBA-16 type
mesoporous silica (MPS) on a Si substrate was developed.
The alcohol catalytic CVD method was employed for the
low temperature synthesis of SWNTs to minimize the
sintering of catalytic metals and damaging of the MPS
structure. The role of MPS layer is discussed based on SEM
and Raman analyses, in comparison with the reference
experiments made using Si substrates coated with silica
thin films. This technique suggests a possibility of
synthesizing SWNTs at welldefined intervals utilizing the
periodic structures of MPS.
This approach has resulted in the occasional
production of multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs) due to
a sintering of deposited/sputtered catalytic metals,
which can be caused by their higher CVD temperature
(typically 900 C) and almost perfect flatness of Si
surface. From this concern, mesoporous silica (MPS)
could be an ideal material for achieving well-
regularized synthesis of carbon nanotubes with an
expected effect of preventing sintering of catalytic
metals.
Here described a new methodology of synthesizing
high-quality SWNTs employing a thin film of cubic type
SBA-16 that has accessible pores on the surface. This
method of metal loading differs from any of the past
work, where the catalytic metal was pre-mixed in the
stage of silica formation. SWNTs have been synthesized
from MPS thin film on a Si substrate using the alcohol
catalytic CVD method was developed, by which was able
to produce high-quality SWNTs at temperature as low as
550 C.
Preparations
1. Tetraethyl-ortho-silicate (TEOS), ethanol, H2O, and HCl were
mixed and stirred for 1 h at 65 C to form a solgel solution. This
solution was mixed with an ethanol solution of amphiphilic triblock
copolymer [(C2H2O)106(C3H4O)70(C2H2O)106] (BASF, F127)
and stirred for another 2 h at room temperature. The self-
assembled polymers served as a structure-directing agent (SDA) in
the formation of mesopores. The overall composition of prepared
mixture was fixed to
{TEOS:H2O:HCl:ethanol:polymer=1:9.2:0.021:40:7.2x10-3} in molar
ratio. The solution thus prepared was mounted on a piece of Si
substrate (2 cmx2 cm) by the dip-coating method at a constant pull-
up rate of 6 cm/min. After the coating, the piece was dried in air at
80 C overnight and calcinated in air at 500 C for 4 h to remove the
polymers, by which an MPS thin film with a typical thickness of 50
nm was formed.
Subsequently, catalytic metal was loaded on the MPS-coated Si
substrate (referred to as MPS/Si substrate). Iron acetate
(CH3CO2)2Fe and cobalt acetate (CH3CO2)2Co-4H2O were dissolved in
ethanol (typically 20 ml) to form a metal acetate solution so that the
weight concentration of both metals were made equal, either 0.01 or
0.001 wt% in this report. The MPS/Si piece was placed on the
bottom of a beaker containing the metal acetate solution and was
then transferred into a desiccator for evacuation by a rotary pump
for 1 h. It is crucial to set the initial solution level below 10 mm to
avoid sudden boiling during the evacuation. With this process, air
remaining inside the mesoporous film was replaced with the
solution. The pieces surface was washed immediately after drawn-
out from the solution with ethanol by two different procedures, as
described in a later section. The metal-loaded MPS/Si piece was
heated up to about 400 C in the flow of He/O2 (5% O2) to remove
organic residues and to form oxidized bimetallic particles inside (or
partly on the surface) of the thin film. As reference experiments,
silicacoated Si substrates (referred to as Silica/Si substrate)
without mesoporous structure were employed to examine the role of
the mesopores. This Silica/Si piece was fabricated by identical
procedures for the metal loading process but without addition of the
polymers.
The MPS layer provides an additional volumetric
capacity for holding catalytic metals inside it, and a
physical potential for prevention of sintering. The
present CVD process at relatively low temperature
contributes to the prevention of metallic sintering at
the same time to the preservation of the MPS
structure. This study has suggested a possibility of
growing SWNTs regularly in well-defined intervals by
utilizing the periodic structure of MPS.
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