We study the optical and electrical properties of transparent conducting films made from length-sorted single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). Thin films of length-sorted SWCNTs, formed through filtration from a dispersing solvent onto a filter substrate ("buckypaper"), exhibit sharp changes in their optical properties and conductivity (sigma) with increasing SWCNT surface concentration. At a given surface concentration, tubes longer than 200 nm are found to form networks that are more transparent and conducting. We show that changes of sigma with SWCNT concentration can be quantitatively described by the generalized effective medium (GEM) theory. The scaling universal exponents describing the "percolation" transition from an insulating to a conducting state with increasing concentration are consistent with the two-dimensional (2D) percolation model. Shorter tubes and mixed length tubes form 3D networks. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the conductivity percolation threshold (x(c)) varies with the aspect ratio L as, x(c) approximately 1/L, a result that is also in accordance with the percolation theory. These findings provide a framework for engineering the optical and electrical properties of SWCNT networks for technological applications where flexibility, transparency, and conductivity are required.

The nonlinear elasticity of thin supported membranes assembled from length purified single-wall carbon nanotubes is analyzed through the wrinkling instability that develops under uniaxial compression. In contrast with thin polymer films, pristine nanotube membranes exhibit strong softening under finite strain associated with bond slip and network fracture. We model the response as a shift in percolation threshold generated by strain-induced nanotube alignment in accordance with theoretical predictions.

ABSTRACT:Single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films show significant promise for transparent electronics applications that demand mechanical flexibility, but durability remains an outstanding issue. In this work, thin membranes of length purified single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are uniaxially and isotropically compressed by depositing them on prestrained polymer substrates. Upon release of the strain, the topography, microstructure, and conductivity of the films are characterized using a combination of optical/fluorescence microscopy, light scattering, force microscopy, electron microscopy, and impedance spectroscopy. Above a critical surface mass density, films assembled from nanotubes of well-defined length exhibit a strongly nonlinear mechanical response. The measured strain dependence reveals a dramatic softening that occurs through an alignment of the SWCNTs normal to the direction of prestrain, which at small strains is also apparent as an anisotropic increase in sheet resistance along the same direction. At higher strains, the membrane conductivities increase due to a compression-induced restoration of conductive pathways. Our measurements reveal the fundamental mode of elasto-plastic deformation in these films and suggest how it might be suppressed. ' INTRODUCTIONIn the past two decades, single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have received considerable attention due to their outstanding mechanical, optical, and electronic properties, and a vast amount of research has been devoted to the characterization of these attributes 1 and the potential applications they suggest. 2 Promising applications are rapidly emerging in such areas as high performance composites, 3 thermoelectric materials, 4 and conducting polymer composites.5 Thin SWCNT films, in particular, show exceptional promise for applications that require transparent coatings with superior mechanical, electronic, and optical qualities. [6][7][8][9] The natural tendency for SWCNTs to form flexible, transparent networks with high electrical conductivity at remarkably low surface coverage is a direct consequence of the magnitude of the typical SWCNT aspect ratio, 10 suggesting that nanotube length is a critical factor in dictating the physical properties of such membranes.The electronic and optical properties of SWCNTs are determined by their electronic band structure, 1 which is specified by the chiral vector (n, m) characterizing the symmetry of rolling a two-dimensional graphene sheet into a hollow tube of diameter a. All existing synthetic techniques therefore produce raw material that contains a distribution of electronic types, ranging from semiconducting to metallic, as well as a broad range of lengths, from 10 nm up to hundreds of micrometers. Since scalable processes for purifying lab-grade quantities of SWCNTs have only recently been formulated, 11-13 thin films of exemplary purified materials have just now become readily available for fundamental research, pointing toward a number of promising applications. Thin SWCNT membranes have rece...

Advanced technological uses of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) rely on the production of single length and chirality populations that are currently only available through liquid-phase post processing. The foundation of all of these processing steps is the attainment of individualized nanotube dispersions in solution. An understanding of the colloidal properties of the dispersed SWCNTs can then be used to design appropriate conditions for separations. In many instances nanotube size, particularly length, is especially active in determining the properties achievable in a given population, and, thus, there is a critical need for measurement technologies for both length distribution and effective separation techniques. In this Progress Report, the current state of the art for measuring dispersion and length populations, including separations, is documented, and examples are used to demonstrate the desirability of addressing these parameters.

The electrical noise characteristics of thin film random networks of single walled carbon nanotubes with lengths of 820nm, 210nm and 130nm, were evaluated in addition to mixed length and pure semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube networks. This study represents one of the first experimental studies in which highly characterized length sorted single walled nanotubes networks have been investigated to isolate their contributions to 1/f noise. In this work we evaluate the noise power spectrum, in the low frequency range, for each of our type sorted samples and demonstrate the effect of nanotube type, length, dimensionality and critical percolation conditions in 1/f noise generating mechanisms. 1/f noise in two-dimensional (2-D) thin films of random network, homogeneous length sorted SWNTs at their percolation threshold in contrast to three dimensional (3-D) thin films of mixed length SWNT and purely semiconducting SWNT thin films were investigated. We find that at their respective critical percolation thresholds, x c , length sorted SWNT networks exhibit atypical reduced noise amplitude (A) characteristics compared to their mixed length and semi-conducting nanotube counterparts.