Fabrication of conductive and transparent single-walled carbon nanotube films with PEDOT

Abstract

In this paper, the fabrication of highly conductive and transparent films of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) on top of polyethylene terephthalate film (PET) substrates is demonstrated using electropolymerization without sacrificing transparency. A sheet resistance of 250 Omega sq(-1) is achieved with a transparency of 93% at a 550nm wavelength. The enhancement in the conductivity was attributed to the ability to bridge the gaps between the individual carbon nanotubes with the help of PEDOT, which increases the number of electric tube-tube junction contacts within the SWCNT network. Polymer Journal (2012) 44, 1238-1243; doi:10.1038/pj.2012.87; published online 23 May 2012