Y-junction carbon nanocoils: synthesis by chemical vapor deposition and formation mechanism

Y-junction carbon nanocoils (Y-CNCs) were synthesized by thermal chemical vapor deposition using Ni catalyst prepared by spray-coating method. According to the emerging morphologies of Y-CNCs, several growth models were advanced to elucidate their formation mechanisms. Regarding the Y-CNCs without metal catalyst in the Y-junctions, fusing of contiguous CNCs and a tip-growth mechanism are considered to be responsible for their formation. However, as for the Y-CNCs with catalyst presence in the Y-junctions, the formation can be ascribed to nanoscale soldering/welding and bottom-growth mechanism. It is found that increasing spray-coating time for catalyst preparation generates agglomerated larger nanoparticles strongly adhering to the substrate, resulting in bottom-growth of CNCs and appearance of the metal catalyst in the Y-junctions. In the contrary case, CNCs catalyzed by isolated smaller nanoparticles develop Y-junctions with an absence of metal catalyst by virtue of weaker adhesion of catalyst with the substrate and tip-growth of CNCs.