ABSTRACT
The development of inexpensive and environmentally friendly graphene-like carbon is critical for its integration into industrial products. This work highlights the production of graphene-like carbon structures from calcium hydroxide. The chemical vapor deposition conditions to grow graphitic carbon on a calcium hydroxide catalyst are reported. Acetylene, steam, and calcium hydroxide are used to grow a crumpled carbon morphology. The crumpled carbon resulted in a high surface area of 1276 m2/g and high electrical conductivity (>105 S/m). Additionally, the significance and origin of the C 1s X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) π-π* plasmon loss peak as it is related to high electrical conductivity is reported. A unique mechanism for the catalytic process involving calcium acetylide is proposed. Several deposition times, steam concentration, and catalyst morphology were tested to synthesize a variety of carbon morphologies from calcium-based materials. Crumpled carbon, hollow nanospheres, bamboo-like carbon nanotubes, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, and graphene fiber morphologies were all formed using calcium-based catalysts. Multiple reaction conditions, a scaled reaction (300 g), and catalyst recyclability were investigated. Calcium-based materials were then used as catalysts for the growth of other graphene-like carbons.
ABSTRACT
Metal oxide thin films are ubiquitous in technological applications. Often, multiple metal components are used to achieve desired film properties for specific functions. Solution deposition offers an attractive route for producing these multimetal oxides because it allows for careful control of film composition through the manipulation of precursor stoichiometry. Although it has been generally assumed that homogeneous precursor solutions yield homogeneous thin films, we recently reported evidence of nonuniform electron density profiles in aqueous-deposited films. Herein, we show that nonuniform electron densities in lanthanum zirconium oxide (LZO) thin films are the result of inhomogeneous distributions of metal components. Specifically, La aggregates at the film surface, whereas Zr is relatively evenly distributed throughout single-layer films. This inhomogeneous metal distribution persists in stacked multilayer films, resulting in La-rich interfaces between the sequentially deposited layers. Testing of metal-insulator-semiconductor devices fabricated from single and multilayer LZO films shows that multilayer films have higher dielectric constants, indicating that La-rich interfaces in multilayer films do not detrimentally impact film properties. We attribute the enhanced dielectric properties of multilayer films to greater condensation and densification relative to single-layer films, and these results suggest that multilayer films may be preferred for device applications despite the presence of layering artifacts.
