Researchers from the Tokyo University of Science have shown that gold, silver, and all other metals can catalyze the production of single-walled carbon nanotubes during a process known as chemical vapor disposition (CVD), a finding which the article calls “unexpected”. Prior to this discovery, the controlled synthesis of these carbon nanotubes with CVD required a nanoscale catalyst metal from the iron-family of elements, which includes iron, cobalt, and nickel. The researchers found that all metals, including gold and silver, can be used as catalysts after undergoing a treatment of being heated in air to 800 degrees Celsius or higher. The article says that these new catalysts could result in new methods for synthesizing single-walled carbon nanotubes while controlling characteristics, such as length, diameter, and chilarity, that determine the nanotubes’ electrical, optical, and other properties.
