Low-temperature ozone treatment for carbon nanotube template removal: improving the template-based ALD method

This work addresses the production of stand-alone ceramic nanotubes by the template-based ALD method at low temperature. Nitrogen-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were coated with ZnO. Afterward, the template removal was evaluated by two different approaches: using oxidation in dry air or in an ozone-rich atmosphere. The samples treated by the two different methods were analyzed by XRD, TEM, SAED, and Raman spectroscopy. The dry air atmosphere requires high temperatures (~ 700 °C) for a complete CNT removal; at that temperature, the ZnO tubular shape is completely collapsed due to recrystallization. Under ozone atmosphere, the template can be removed at temperatures as low as 85 °C; this temperature is lower than the ALD preparation temperature (120 °C). The ozone treatment maintains the tubular shape of the ZnO nanostructures. Photocatalytic activity of the ZnO samples was evaluated using the photo-oxidation of Amaranth as probe reaction, showing a higher activity the ZnO nanotubes obtained from the low-temperature ozone treatment than the high-temperature processed materials. The use of ozone for the template removal reinforces the template-based ALD method to produce inorganic nanotubes.