Abstract
Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are ideal for fabricating transparent conductive films because of their small diameter, good optical and electrical properties, and excellent flexibility. However, a high intertube Schottky junction resistance, together with the existence of aggregated bundles of SWCNTs, leads to a degraded optoelectronic performance of the films. We report a network of isolated SWCNTs prepared by an injection floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition method, in which crossed SWCNTs are welded together by graphitic carbon. Pristine SWCNT films show a record low sheet resistance of 41 ohm -1 at 90% transmittance for 550-nm light. After HNO3 treatment, the sheet resistance further decreases to 25 ohm -1. Organic light-emitting diodes using this SWCNT film as anodes demonstrate a low turn-on voltage of 2.5 V, a high current efficiency of 75 cd A-1, and excellent flexibility. Investigation of isolated SWCNT-based field-effect transistors shows that the carbon-welded joints convert the Schottky contacts between metallic and semiconducting SWCNTs into near-ohmic ones, which significantly improves the conductivity of the transparent SWCNT network. Ourwork provides a new avenue of assembling individual SWCNTs into macroscopic thin films, which demonstrate great potential for use as transparent electrodes in various flexible electronics.
Original language | English |
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Article number | eaap9264 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-10 |
Journal | Science Advances |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 4 May 2018 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |