Fabrication and characterization of free standing 3D carbon structure

Abstract

Carbon represents one of the most diverse class of materials found on earth, such that a branch of chemistry, called organic chemistry was established to study carbon-based molecules. Recently, some researchers shift their focus to carbon hybrid materials, because these hybrid materials demonstrate better capabilities in applications than their pristine counterpart. In this project, the aim is to provide a simple approach to fabricate graphite/carbon nanotubes hybrid, via Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition, and then followed by etching of substrate that create a free-standing 3D carbon structure. Multiple graphite samples were fabricated under different growth times to find out the optimal growth time for fabrication of graphite as thick as possible, and then followed by characterization process. Carbon nanotube was fabricated and the fabrication process was optimized by tuning several parameters, such as catalyst deposition method, growth time, catalyst concentration, and substrate preparation time. The results were analyzed and discussions were given. Characterizations are done using Scanning Electron Microscope and Raman Spectroscopy.