High-yield growth of carbon nanofilaments on nickel foam using nickel-tin intermetallic catalysts

The integration of nanomaterials into macroscopic structures is of importance to their practical use. We report the direct synthesis of carbon nanofilaments on Ni foam using Ni-Sn intermetallic nanoparticles. The use of SnO2 nanoparticles was highly effective for the high-yield growth of carbon nanofilaments without the occurrence of surface breakup, resulting from excessive carbon accumulation in the Ni foam. Carbon nanofilaments with a diameter of 50 nm were synthesized and contained Ni3Sn nanoparticles at the tip, indicating a tip-growth mechanism. Higher vacuum conditions led to the growth of highly crystalline carbon nanofilaments. The results obtained using different sources of hydrocarbon revealed that in contrast to C2H2, CH4 or C3H8 did not induce carbon nanofilament formation on Ni foam.