Suppression of Metallic Conductivity of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes by Cycloaddition Reactions

Abstract

The high carrier mobility of films of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is attractive for electronics applications, but the presence of metallic SWNTs leads to high off-currents in transistor applications. The method presented here, cycloaddition of fluorinated olefins, represents an effective approach toward converting the "as grown" commercial SWNT mats into high-mobility semiconducting tubes with high yield and without further need for carbon nanotube separation. Thin-film transistors, fabricated from percolating arrays of functionalized carbon nanotubes, exhibit mobilities >100 square centimeters per volt-second and on-off ratios of 100,000. This method should allow for the use of semiconducting carbon nanotubes in commercial electronic devices and provide a low-cost route to the fabrication of electronic inks.

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

“…The observed values of our fabricated devices, namely for both mobility and on/off ratio, are very good for solution-sorted sc-SWNT networks 20,50,51 . We anticipate that higher mobility could be attained on further optimization of the SWNT network morphologies, as well as the various dispersion conditions.…”

“…In particular, the high charge-carrier mobility of semiconducting (sc-) SWNTs together with the ability for solution processing hold a great promise for high-performance low-cost transistor applications. Despite their immense potential, separating sc-SWNTs from metallic (met-) SWNTs from an as-synthesized mixture in high yields remains a challenge [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] . Great progress has been made to develop advanced selective growth methods [22][23][24][25][26][27] .…”

“…However, further improvements in both afforded yields and subsequently scaling-up processes are still needed. Postgrowth separation is an alternative technique that resulted in the enrichment of sc-SWNTs 13,14,17,18,20,21,28,29 . Despite their promises, each method still has its own limitations in scaling up and/or requires the tedious process of removing the insulating surfactants or polymers.…”

In Quest of a Systematic Framework for Unifying and Defining Nanoscience

“…The value of this nanoelement category as mixtures of (C) and (SC) types is severely limited for thin-film transistors where high mobility and on/off ratios are essential. It has been found recently (Kanungo et al 2009), that the deleterious (C) configuration may be selectively reacted out by [2 ? 2] cycloaddition reactions involving fluorinated vinylethers to yield a residual (SC)-type SWNT architecture with good mobility and on/off features suitable for electronic device applications (Table 5).…”

Tuning the properties of graphene using a reversible gas-phase reaction

“…Therefore, surface functionalization, which has proved useful in enhancing the semiconducting characteristics of single-walled carbon nanotubes, [10][11][12][13] should provide an efficient way to covalently modify graphene and thus tailor its chemical, electronic, and mechanical properties. Among the approaches developed so far, 14 such as hydrogenation, [15][16][17] diazonium chemistry, [18][19][20] cycloaddition, 21 photochemistry, 22 and fluorination, 23 gas-phase functionalization techniques would be superior for modulating the electronic properties of sp 2 carbon nanomaterials because of their ease of control, mild conditions and the high reactivity of plasma species.…”