Low-Temperature Growth of Carbon Nanotubes from the Catalytic Decomposition of Carbon Tetrachloride

Abstract
Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were synthesized via the decomposition of CCl4 in supercritical CO2 at 175 °C and 27.6 MPa using an iron-encapsulated dendrimer as a growth catalyst. The average diameter of resultant nanotubes was 20−25 nm, obtained after a 24-h reaction time. Our conditions represent the first application for CX4 precursors, as well as the lowest-reported temperature regime for carbon nanotube growth, allowing the use of other temperature-sensitive catalytic substrates.