Effect of purity on the electro-optical properties of single wall nanotube-based transparent conductive electrodes

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2013 · Carbon

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2013.04.037· OSTI ID:1156804

Garrett, Matthew P ^[1]; Ivanov, Ilia N ^[1]; Geohegan, David B ^[1]; Hu, Bin ^[1]

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1. ORNL

We present a detailed assessment of centrifugation technique for purification of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for application as transparent conductive electrodes. As- grown and highly-purified SWCNTs were dispersed in surfactants by ultrasonication, and then centrifuged to selectively remove carbonaceous and metal impurities. The centrifuged supernatant suspensions were made into thin films by transferring filtrated nanotube coat- ings onto glass slides. The absorbance and resistance of nanotube coatings were measured, and their optical purity level estimated from a comparison of the area of the near-infrared S22 SWCNT optical absorption band relative to the area of the background. The single-step centrifugation process is shown to purify laser-vaporization grown SWCNTs from an initial optical purity of 0.10 to an averaged purity of 0.23, with an 8.8% yield, which is comparable to other purification techniques. The quality of transparent conductive electrodes esti- mated as a ratio of visible-spectrum absorbance to sheet conductivity is improved by a fac- tor of 12 upon purification.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL); Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
• Sponsoring Organization: SC USDOE - Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1156804
• Journal Information: Carbon, Journal Name: Carbon Vol. 65; ISSN 0008-6223
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

nanotube
purity
swnt