| The viability of two independent electronic applications of single-walled carbon nanotubes was studied. Firstly, the use of a transparent, conductive, nanotube film as an electrode on which to electrochemically synthesise a thin film of poly(ethylenedioxythiophene). Such an electrode, possessing advantageous properties of both the nanotube and polymer film, should prove useful for numerous organic devices. Polymer-nanotube electrodes were made with HipCO and arc-discharge CNTs, on glass and flexible substrates; showing up to 100 O/sq. improvement in sheet resistance over conventional spin-coated films was demonstrated on glass. Preliminary organic LED devices were fabricated and successfully tested. Secondly, covalently bound monolayers of SWNTs on silicon were synthesised with a view to exploring the electronic properties of vertically aligned SWNT arrays. Silicon surfaces with hydroxyl functionality were prepared by a radical reaction with hydroxyl terminated 1-alkenes, which were then ester couple to oxidised carbon nanotubes. The resulting substrates showed bound, but disordered nanotube films. |
