Easy synthesis of a nanostructured hybrid array consisting of gold nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes

A nanostructured hybrid consisting of a high-density and uniform assembly of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was prepared using easy methods. The pyrolysis of iron(II) phthalocyanine (FePc) on a Si substrate under an atmosphere of hydrogen/argon was used to produce multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with 12 nm in diameter and 4 μm in length. Then, Au nanocolloid solution, which contained dodecanethiol-capped Au nanoparticles synthesized by solution chemical method, was deposited on the synthesized CNT array and heated at 300 °C for 1 h under Ar. The synthesis temperature of CNT governs the AuNP–CNT hybrid structure and surface nitrogen concentration from decomposition of FePC. CNTs synthesized at 800 °C exhibit the finest particle size and most homogeneous dispersity of assembled AuNPs in comparison to hybrids whose CNTs are synthesized at other temperatures. These features are considered to correlate with the surface nature of the grown CNT; good dispersity of AuNPs on CNT results from interaction between the thiolate molecules capped on the AuNPs and the N atoms doped into the grown CNT. Assembling AuNPs to CNT contributes the electrical conductivity enhancement of the CNT hybrid array.