Effective growth of vertically aligned carbon nanotube turfs on flexible Al foil

Vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube turfs (VACNTs) have been synthesized onto commercially available aluminum foil without the use of a pre-deposited catalyst. We used ferrocene as a precursor powder catalyst and acetylene as a carbon source to grow VACNTs using three-temperature-zone chemical vapor deposition at 550-950 degrees C. The greatest average height of the VACNTs was 124.5 +/- 1.71 mu m, attained with heating at 750 degrees C for 10 min. The diameters of the VACNTs were in the range of 5.25-11.85 nm with growth at temperatures of 600-850 degrees C. The scalable deposition method allows large area coverage on flexible metal foils, which is well suited for integration of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes into plastic electronics. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.