Fabrication of single-walled carbon nanotube three-dimensional networks inside the pores of a porous silicon structure

Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) three-dimensional (3-D) networks were first fabricated in the pores of a porous silicon substrate using thermal decomposition of C₂H₂ at 800 °C. Catalyst nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on the inner wall surfaces of the pores using a dipping method combined with ultrasonication. SWCNTs were synthesized along the inner wall surface of the pores, and spanned it. The suspended SWCNTs inside the pores formed 3-D networks in the results of the chaotic overgrowth of SWCNTs in a confined space under thermal vibration, and van der Waals interactions between SWCNTs.