Click here to view fulltext PDF

Permanent link:
https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/boms/034/04/0615-0622

We describe in this paper a transparent conducting film (TCF). It is a fibrous layer of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), labeled a dilute CNT mat, that was prepared and unidirectionally stretched to improve both the optical and electrical properties. After stretching by 80% strain, transmittance at 550 nm wavelength was improved by 37% and sheet resistance was reduced to 71% of the original value. The improvement of the transmittance can be explained by increased area of the CNT mat after stretch, and the reduced sheet resistance can be explained by increased density of the CNT alignment in lateral direction due to contraction. Based on the microscopic observation before and after stretch, models to describe the phenomena are proposed. By further expanding on this method, it may be possible to obtain a transparent conducting carbon nanotube film which is crack-resistant for solar cell applications.

Tsuyoshi Saotome¹ Hansang Kim¹ David Lashmore² H Thomas Hahn³

1. UCLA Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, Multifunctional Composites Laboratory, Los Angeles CA 90095, USA
2. Nanocomp Technologies, Inc, 162 Pembroke Road, Concord, NH 03301
3. California NanoSystems Institute, 570 Westwood Plaza, Building 114, Los Angeles CA 90095, USA

Published

July 2011

Manuscript received

26 July 2009

Manuscript revised

19 October 2009