This study introduces a method of patterning carbon nanotube (CNTs) forests that is both fast and simple. We found that, as commercially available oil-based markers undergo nanotube synthesis, a thin film forms that prevents the catalyst, ferrocene, from coming into contact with the surface of the test sample. This, thus, blocks CNT growth. Through further deduction, we used styrene maleic anhydride (SMA) to conduct CNT patterning, in addition to analyzing the relationship between the weight percent concentration of the SMA and the extent to which it blocked CNT growth. We developed two separate methods for applying ink to soft and hard substrates: one method involved ink printing and the other laser stripping. In the CNT pattern we produced, a minimum line width of around 10 µm was attained.
Keywords: carbon nanotubes; ferrocene; ink; patterning; styrene maleic anhydride.