Morphological and microstructural property comparison of bulk and aligned CVD-grown carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes are one-dimensional materials found in various forms, the most important of which are bulk unordered carbon nanotubes of lengths of few microns and aligned tubes regularly a few millimeters long. Differences in length, orientation, alignment, nanotube graphitization and purity will influence the eventual performance of the material. Herein four characterization methods are used to characterize and compare bulk and aligned carbon nanotubes. Results show that the diameters of the millimeter-long aligned carbon nanotubes are approximately 60 ∼ 80 nm with thick nanotube walls of about 25 ∼ 30 nm, while the diameters of the bulk carbon nanotubes are about 15 ∼ 20 nm with much thinner walls. The aligned carbon nanotubes have significantly larger graphitization degrees, higher purity and greater orientation than the bulk carbon nanotubes that tend to self-agglomerate under no external stimulus. Silicon carbide matrix nanocomposites reinforced by the aligned carbon nanotubes were found to be denser that those reinforced by the bulk carbon nanotubes and also exhibit extensive, uniform, and long pullout of carbon nanotubes.