Selective dispersion of high purity semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes with regioregular poly(3-alkylthiophene)s

Nat Commun. 2011 Nov 15:2:541. doi: 10.1038/ncomms1545.

Abstract

Conjugated polymers, such as polyfluorene and poly(phenylene vinylene), have been used to selectively disperse semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (sc-SWNTs), but these polymers have limited applications in transistors and solar cells. Regioregular poly(3-alkylthiophene)s (rr-P3ATs) are the most widely used materials for organic electronics and have been observed to wrap around SWNTs. However, no sorting of sc-SWNTs has been achieved before. Here we report the application of rr-P3ATs to sort sc-SWNTs. Through rational selection of polymers, solvent and temperature, we achieved highly selective dispersion of sc-SWNTs. Our approach enables direct film preparation after a simple centrifugation step. Using the sorted sc-SWNTs, we fabricate high-performance SWNT network transistors with observed charge-carrier mobility as high as 12 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and on/off ratio of >10(6). Our method offers a facile and a scalable route for separating sc-SWNTs and fabrication of electronic devices.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Electronics / instrumentation*
  • Nanotechnology / methods*
  • Nanotubes, Carbon / chemistry*
  • Polymers / chemistry*
  • Semiconductors / instrumentation

Substances

  • Nanotubes, Carbon
  • Polymers