One-Pot Preparation of Fe/Cu Catalytic Solution for the Growth of Carbon Nanotubes for Use in Gas Sensor and Field Emission Devices

Carbon nanotubes have a large surface area and are porous in nature so they can be highly useful in gas sensing and field emission applications. CNT have advanced electrical properties due to π-π conjugated configuration. In this present work, we have prepared the Fe catalyst and Fe/Cu catalyst via a chemical route. CNTs were synthesized on Fe and Fe/Cu coated silicon substrates using the low-pressure CVD at different gas flow ratios. The growth of CNTs was performed at 700 ℃ temperature by feeding the acetylene gas along with hydrogen as a carrier gas. The growth of CNTs completed in 25 min. Ammonia is a poisonous gas that is renowned as a silent killer. Long-term ammonia gas exposure damages the sensory tissue and promotes headaches. In this work, we study the gas sensing and field emission properties of the as-prepared CNTs in the presence of ammonia gas. The as-prepared samples were characterized by several techniques like scanning electron microscope (SEM) for morphology analysis, Raman spectroscopy to analyse signature peaks and quality of the as-prepared samples. The role of ammonia gas in gas sensing and the change in electronic characteristics in the presence of ammonia gas are being investigated.