Optimization of Ag catalyst growth by vacuum thermal evaporation

In this paper, we optimize Ag catalysts for CNT growth by analyzing the relationship between the growth parameters of the Ag catalyst and the structure of the island. The structure of the islands included the diameter of the Ag island, the composition of the Ag, and the crystallinity. The experimental growth parameters included the annealing time, the temperature, the deposition time, and the mass of the source. Ag thin films were deposited on SiO2 microscope slides as a substrate using a thermal evaporation method, followed by annealing treatment to form island at surface of substrate and optimization of the four parameters. Ag catalyst islands were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to analyze the diameter and to confirm that Ag had been deposited on the surface of the substrate. This research found that increases in the mass of the Ag source used, the evaporation time, and the annealing temperature increased the average diameter of the Ag catalyst island. The catalyst was optimized for high-quality CNT growing, where the CNT will be used in electronic and solar cell applications, especially to improve the efficiency of the solar cell.