Organometallic reactions with pressurized gases

Other procedures for the synthesis of CNTs use a gas phase for introducing the catalyst, in which both the catalyst and the hydrocarbon gas are fed into a furnace, followed by a catalytic reaction in the gas phase. The method is suitable for large-scale synthesis, because nanotubes are free from catalytic supports and the reaction can be operated continuously. A high-pressure carbon monoxide reaction method, in which the CO gas reacts with iron pentacarbonyl to form SWNTs, has been developed [38]. SWNTs have been synthesized from a mixture of benzene and ferrocene in a hydrogen gas flow [55]. In both methods, catalyst nanoparticles are formed through thermal decomposition of organometallic compounds, such as iron pentacarbonyl and ferrocene. 

Fig. 1, the metal atoms may be generated in an electrically heated crucible and co-condensed with the substrate on the cold walls of the reaction vessel. To minimize gas-phase reactions, a good vacuum must be maintained in the reactor during this codeposition. An alternative procedure is to condense the metal vapor into a well-stirred solution of the reactant in a suitable solvent cooled to a temperature at which the vapor pressure of the solution is <10 3 torr. This method has special advantages for the preparation of unstable organometallic compounds and for reacting metal atoms with nonvolatile substrates.2... 

---