Carbon nanotube-magnesium oxide cube networks

For future applications based on carbon nanotubes, two- and three-dimensional architectures of nanotubes need to be assembled. In many cases this will involve the creation of nanotube units and nodes from which these nanotubes can be distributed in a network. We demonstrate that this idea is plausible by using a template of the correct dimensions and shape, and that has facets that provide the right growth conditions: submicrometer-sized MgO cubes are used to grow nanotubes by chemical vapor deposition. The resulting networks often show that the MgO cubes function as distribution sites for arrays of aligned nanotubes.