K and Au bicatalyst assisted growth of carbon nanocoils from acetylene: effect of deposition parameters on field emission properties.

We demonstrated the growth of carbon nanocoils (CNCs) via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using Au and K metals as the catalysts to assist the thermal decomposition of C(2)H(2). Typical CNCs (wire diameter: 50-80 nm, coil diameter: 110-140 nm, pitch: 100-200 nm, tens of micrometers), identified as amorphous coiled carbon fibers by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), were grown at proper combinations of reaction parameters. Au nanoparticles (NPs), identified by energy dispersion X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and electron diffraction (ED), were located at the tips of the CNCs.