Production of Aligned Carbon Nanotube Films and Nitrogen Doped Carbon Nanotube Films from the Pyrolysis of Styrene.

Styrene is used as a carbon source in a CVD process to obtain aligned carbon nanotube films. Changing the carrier gas from argon to ammonia introduces nitrogen into the tubes. SEM, TEM and HRTEM show the well-aligned structures, which appear to exist as macrobundles. EELS analyses have verified the existence of 3.3 wt.% nitrogen in the tube. Irradiation experiments show that this technique can be used to manipulate NCNTs. © 2004 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]