Single-step high-speed nanogranulation of metal alloy around carbon nanotubes by flash light irradiation

Abstract

We demonstrate to decorate carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with metal alloy nanoparticles by flash light from a xenon lamp highlighting dramatically simplified process and ultrafast speed of millisecond. By managing the pulse energy of the irradiation, we customize the nucleation and growth rates of homogeneous binary and ternary nanoparticles with Pt-Ru and Pt-Ru-Mo thin layers that are e-beam deposited onto CNTs. No damage of CNTs during the light-induced nanogranulation is guaranteed by the rapid and surface-localized heating mechanism. The fabricated nanoparticle/CNT nanostructures are characterized using variety of microscopic and spectroscopic techniques such as SEM. TEM and Raman spectroscopy. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.