Effect of deposition conditions on percolation in single-walled carbon nanotube networks
Abstract
Macroscopic networks of ordered single-walled carbon nano-tubes (SWNTs) have been formed using laminar-flow deposition (LFD) at room temperature. This deposition method involves successive deposition cycles from aqueous suspensions of SWNTs. Each deposition cycle deposits a reproducible density of partially aligned SWNTs, which allows a great level of control over the network formation process. The macroscopic conductivity of these 2-D thin-films was observed to follow percolation theory throughout the network growth process. The ability of this deposition method to partially align SWNTs during deposition was investigated. Networks deposited with SWNTs having orthogonal directionality showed significantly greater precision and current capacity than networks composed of SWNTs that were partially aligned in only one direction. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim