Different Pathways for Synthesis of WO3 and Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube-Based Nanostructures

The synthesis and investigation of vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) based materials are gaining more-and-more interest among scientists due to their specific properties (e.g., electrical, optical, mechanical). Therefore, our interest for the present research has focused on synthesis of WO₃/VACNT based nanostructures (using carbon nanotube forests obtained by catalytic chemical vapor deposition-CCVD method on aluminum substrate) using different synthesis pathways and WO₃ precursors. The obtained composites were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, while the obtained crystal structures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results have shown that depending on the synthesis method, and using as template the carbonaceous structure, we can successfully obtain non-stochiometric tungsten oxide (W18O49) or WO₃ composites.