Patent ID: 7157068

Claim:
A process for preparation of a material comprising non-aligned carbon nanotubes comprising: providing, in a reactor, a catalyst material in the form of particles said catalyst material including a catalytic substrate comprising a sol-gel material or a mesoporous material impregnated with or having deposited thereon a metallic material, by providing a material surface in the reactor and placing the particles on the material surface; creating a substantially oxygen free atmosphere in the reactor and controlling the pressure within said reactor; feeding at least one carbon source gas into the reactor; providing thermal energy to heat the reactor to a reaction temperature to cause the carbon source gas to form nucleated tubules in the presence of the particles and cause the initiation of tubule growth into carbon nanotubes; feeding a mixture of gases comprising at least one promoter gas into the reactor to promote growth of carbon nanotubes; and producing carbon nanotubes that are non-aligned with respect to one another wherein the carbon nanotubes have a multi-walled or conically overlapping morphology; wherein the process further comprises introducing a catalyst gas comprising an organo-metallic material.