Solar induced chemical vapor deposition of carbon from ethanol

Solar induced chemical vapor deposition (S-CVD) process using the concentrated solar radiation flux provided at the focus of a Fresnel lens (diameter 40 cm, focal length 40 cm) has been investigated. Carbon deposits on silicon and on silica have been produced using ethanol as the carbon precursor, highly diluted in hydrogen. A simple optical modeling results in a spot of 0.36 cm diameter with maximum radiation flux of 0.388 kW cm−2. The deposited spots morphology observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) are round shaped with dimensions smaller than 500 × 500 μm2. Several flakes and holes of diameters around 2 μm are easily seen on both substrates. Raman results suggest that the deposits may be composed of complex structured carbon. ▸ Solar chemical vapor deposition (S-CVD) is proposed. ▸ S-CVD may be applied to several kinds of material deposition. ▸ S-CVD of carbon from ethanol relies practically on solar radiation.