Carbon nanotube–nanocrystal heterostructures fabricated by electrophoretic deposition

Abstract

Alternating layer, carbon nanotubes-nanocrystal composite films, comprising multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and iron oxide (Fe(3)O(4)) nanocrystals, have been fabricated via electrophoretic deposition (EPD) on stainless steel and gold substrates. Low field-high current and high field-low current EPD schemes were integrated to produce the composite films. The low field-high current EPD approach produced porous mats from an aqueous suspension of the MWCNTs, while the high field-low current EPD approach produced tightly packed nanocrystal films from a dispersion of the nanocrystals in hexane. Large electric fields applied during the nanocrystal EPD and strong van der Waals interactions among the nanocrystals facilitated the formation of tightly packed nanocrystal films atop the MWCNT mats to create CNT mat-nanocrystal film composites. The surface coverage and homogeneity of the nanocrystal films improved with repeated deposition of the nanocrystals on the same mat. The assembly of nanotube mats on top of the CNT mat-nanocrystal film composite confirmed the feasibility of multilayered CNT mat-nanocrystal film heterostructures suitable for a range of devices. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques were employed to characterize the surface coverage, homogeneity, and topology of these composite films.

Electrophoretic deposition and characterization of Eu2O3 nanocrystal—Carbon nanotube heterostructures

“…20 The deposits were classified into two regimes based on the applied electric field and current flowing through the EPD suspension, low field-high current and high field-low current. 9 The deposition current during EPD comprises two components, electrophoretic current and electrolytic current. The suspension medium controls the electrolytic component, while the suspended nanomaterials govern the electrophoretic component.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] The interest is to integrate CNTs and NCs, taking advantage of their unique properties, into various architectures for next-generation magnetic, optical and energystorage devices. An example architecture is a layered composite of CNTs and NCs with sharp interfaces, which is integral to existing and proposed devices such as supercapacitors and fuel cells.…”

Anode Supported Protonic Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Fabricated Using Electrophoretic Deposition

“…Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is a reliable deposition method extensively used in different branches of materials science, including carbon nanotube films [14,15], preparation of fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites [16,17], composite materials [18,19] and laminated materials [20,21]. The major advantages of this deposition technique are the short …”

Electrophoretic Deposition (EPD): Fundamentals and Applications from Nano- to Micro-Scale Structures

“…EPD has been used to improve carbon nanotubes (CNTs), to make CNT-composites, and for graphene synthesis [25][26][27] [32], hydroxyapatite/CNT [33][34][35], and bioactive glass/CNT composites [36,37] have been made using homogeneous dispersion of CNTs in an appropriate solvent. Fibers coated with single-walled CNTs, which can be used for extracting phenols from aqueous solutions, have also been prepared by electrophoresis of a suspension of CNTs in dimethylformamide at a constant voltage of 40 V for 10 s [88].…”