Polymer-Assisted Direct Deposition of Uniform Carbon Nanotube Bundle Networks for High Performance Transparent Electrodes

Abstract

Flexible transparent electrodes are crucial for touch screen, flat panel display, and solar cell technologies. While carbon nanotube network electrodes show promise, characteristically poor dispersion properties have limited their practicality. We report that addition of small amounts of conjugated polymer to nanotube dispersions enables straightforward fabrication of uniform network electrodes by spin-coating and simultaneous tuning of parameters such as bundle size and density. After treatment in thionyl chloride, electrodes have sheet resistances competitive with other reported carbon nanotube based transparent electrodes to date.