Conditions for forming composite carbon nanotube-diamond like carbon material that retain the good properties of both materials
- Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 43, FIN-00014 Helsinki (Finland)
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Chemical Technology, Aalto University, P.O. Box 16200, 00076 Espoo (Finland)
- NanoMaterials Group, Department of Applied Physics, Aalto University School of Science, P.O. Box 15100, 00076 Aalto (Finland)
Carbon nanotubes are of wide interest due to their excellent properties such as tensile strength and electrical and thermal conductivity, but are not, when placed alone on a substrate, well resistant to mechanical wear. Diamond-like carbon (DLC), on the other hand, is widely used in applications due to its very good wear resistance. Combining the two materials could provide a very durable pure carbon nanomaterial enabling to benefit from the best properties of both carbon allotropes. However, the synthesis of high-quality diamond-like carbon uses energetic plasmas, which can damage the nanotubes. From previous works it is neither clear whether the quality of the tubes remains good after DLC deposition, nor whether the DLC above the tubes retains the high sp{sup 3} bonding fraction. In this work, we use experiments and classical molecular dynamics simulations to study the mechanisms of DLC formation on various carbon nanotube compositions. The results show that high-sp{sup 3}-content DLC can be formed provided the deposition conditions allow for sidewards pressure to form from a substrate close beneath the tubes. Under optimal DLC formation energies of around 40–70 eV, the top two nanotube atom layers are fully destroyed by the plasma deposition, but layers below this can retain their structural integrity.
- OSTI ID:
- 22492944
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 19; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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