Science and applications of wafer-scale crystalline carbon nanotube films prepared through controlled vacuum filtration

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) make an ideal one-dimensional (1D) material platform for the exploration of novel physical phenomena under extremely strong quantum confinement. The 1D character of electrons, phonons and excitons in individual CNTs features extraordinary electronic, thermal and optical properties. Since their discovery in 1991, they have been continuing to attract interest in various disciplines, including chemistry, materials science, physics and engineering. However, the macroscopic manifestation of 1D properties is still limited, despite significant efforts for decades. Recently, a controlled vacuum filtration method has been developed for the preparation of wafer-scale films of crystalline chirality-enriched CNTs, and such films have enabled exciting new fundamental studies and applications. In this review, we will first discuss the controlled vacuum filtration technique, and then summarize recent discoveries in optical spectroscopy studies and optoelectronic device applications using films prepared by this technique.

One-directional thermal transport in densely aligned single-wall carbon nanotube films

“…The cross-plane  ( ⊥ ) of Film 1 was measured using TDTR31,32 after coating the surface with a ~100-nm-thick Al transducer film. The details of our TDTR setup are described elsewhere33 .Top-view Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images of each sample are shown in Film 1(Figure 1a) had uniformly aligned CNTs, as in previous reports28,29,[34][35][36][37][38][39] . The alignment of Film 2(Figure 1b and 1c)is much weaker.…”

A Meta‐Analysis of Conductive and Strong Carbon Nanotube Materials

“…[9,188,189,190] Short lengths were necessary to increase stiffness and avoids kinks and bending when forming the bucky paper dispersion. [19] Individual CNT studies [185,186,294] found connection between CNT conductivity, strength, and anisotropy. Using an anisotropy ratio based on specific conductivity, for FWCNT mats made from FC-CVD, a specific study from our group found anisotropy ratio values ranged from one to 30 and was tightly correlated with specific conductivity and specific strength.…”

“…[10] There is also the potential for CNT-based cables to replace copper and aluminum for electrical power transmission. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] The concept of a high conductivity, high strength electrical cable based on sp 2 carbon has been considered for almost forty years, [18] well before the widespread recognition of CNTs as fullerenes, and now a great variety of advanced CNTbased materials contend for this application; examples include aligned bucky paper, [19,20] aligned wet or dry spun CNT fiber, [11,21] and CNT-metal hybrid composites. [22,23] While all these materials are based on CNTs, not all CNT materials are created equally and there is a spectrum of performance trade-offs between cost, conductivity, strength, stability, purity, degree of doping, crystallinity, and production yield.…”

Strong Light–Matter Coupling in Carbon Nanotubes as a Route to Exciton Brightening

“…27 Furthermore, the single chirality tubes have been assembled into well-aligned films via controlled vacuum filtration. [28][29][30] These achievements give confidence that the problems of SWCNT sample fabrication will be gradually solved with improvements in experimental techniques.…”