Effective Self-Support Growth of Spring-Like Carbon Nanotube Arrays with Ultra-Large Specific Surface Area

Abstract

Carbon nanotube (CNT) long array with higher aspect ratio is an ideal electrode material for high performance supercapacitors due to its excellent conductivity and high specific surface area (SSA). How to quickly and concisely prepare high-quality CNT long-arrays is the key to achieving large-scale application. Herein, high-quality spring-like CNT (tube diameter 5–8[Formula: see text]nm) long arrays (100–400[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m) with high purity (96.2% after purification) and ultrahigh graphitization ([Formula: see text]) were fabricated in a high yield (eight times) by a self-supporting catalyst chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, and its formation process was first investigated under specific conditions of iron content in catalyst, growth temperature and carbon source species. The SSAs can reach 728[Formula: see text]m2/g, which is more than twice that of MWCNTs on the market. The high graphitization and ultra-large SSAs of this spring-like CNT arrays as electrodes exhibit potential electrochemical performance.