A supercritical-fluid method for growing carbon nanotubes

Large-scale generation of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MCNTs) is efficiently achieved through a supercritical fluid technique employing carbon dioxide as the carbon source. Nanotubes with diameters ranging from 10 to 20 nm and lengths of several tens of micrometers are synthesized (see figure). The supercritical-fluid-grown nanotubes also exhibit field-emission characteristics similar to MCNTs grown by chemical-vapor deposition.