9 to 200 nm. The agglomeration of Au and Fe films slightly differed because of the Savolitinib ic50 variation lattice mismatch in the thermal coefficient. The Fe nanoparticles were trapped in the void nucleation area between the Au clusters, which were produced by the grooving of the grain boundary. Figure 2b shows the MWCNTs grown on the AuFe catalyst. A horizontally oriented MWCNT network was formed with the remaining Au clusters on the substrate, which indicated the absence of growth on these clusters. In this case, the Au clusters formed a passivation layer to suppress nanotube growth, whose growth rate primarily depended on the availability

of Fe nanoparticles. From least density of Fe nanoparticles, the nanotube growth occurred at a much lower rate of 0.02 μm/min with horizontally lying MWCNTs on the substrate as a result

of weak attraction forces of the van der Waals among the neighboring nanotubes. The ends of the AZD8931 research buy nanotubes were linked and overlapped among the neighboring tubes, hence forming a netlike structure. The growth rate of the CNT-based Fe catalyst was approximately 900 times lower than that reported by Moulton et al. [18], which resulted in a low-density formation. Figure 2 Formation of catalyst and characteristics of the resultant MWCNTs on TiN/thermally oxidized Si (100). (a) SEM image of the AuFe catalyst after annealing, (b) growth of the resultant MWCNTs for 30 min, and (c) SEM image of the peeled surface of MWCNTs. Figure 2c shows the peeled surface of the nanotubes Alectinib purchase grown on the AuFe catalyst. A base growth mechanism was evidenced by learn more the presence of Fe nanoparticles on the substrate, which was similar

to the findings of Bower et al. [19]. Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of the catalyst nanoparticles and the growth of the resultant nanotube. The distribution of the resultant nanotubes was smaller than their catalyst in terms of diameter. This result could be attributed to the restriction of nanotube growth on the Fe nanoparticles, a growth caused by the strong interface reaction between the Fe nanoparticles and the TiN layer. Table 1 Characteristics of the catalyst nanoparticles and the growth of the resultant nanotubes Type of catalyst/CNTs Formation Range of size/diameter (nm) Density (×1010/cm2) RMS (nm) Growth rate (μm/min) AuFe catalyst Connected clusters with small nanoparticles 16.9 to 200 9.07 4.81 – MWCNTs Horizontally oriented 7.0 to 9.0 22.31 5.36 0.02 Figure 3 shows the SEM images of the as-transferred horizontally oriented MWCNT network on the flexible substrate. Most of these CNTs retained their shapes on the flexible substrate without any significant changes in diameter and length, achieving a 90% yield rate. The adhesion between the adhesive underlayer and the flexible substrate was assumed to be much stronger than that between the as-grown horizontally oriented nanotubes and the TiN layer/thermally oxidized Si (100) substrate. Zhu et al.