Preparation and characterisation of an aligned carbon nanotube array on the silicon (100) surface

Abstract

Arrays of aligned carbon nanotubes formed by self-assembly on a Si (100) surface are described. The surface of a Si (100) wafer has been modified by reaction of hydride-terminated Si (100) with ethyl undecylenate to give ethyl undecanoate self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) which were linked by stable silicon–carbon covalent bonds. The ester terminus of the monolayer was converted to an alcohol whereupon shortened carbon nanotubes were covalently attached using carbodiimide coupling. The formation of the SAM and its subsequent modification with nanotubes has been followed using a series of techniques including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), IR spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry.