Carbon nanotube-based organic light emitting diodes

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes; revolutionary and fascinating from the materials point of view and exceedingly sensational from a research point of view; are standing today at the threshold between inorganic electronics and organic electronics and posing a serious challenge to the big daddies of these two domains in electronics i.e., silicon and indium tin oxide (ITO). In the field of inorganic electronics, carbon nanotubes offer advantages such as high current carrying capacity, ballistic transport, absence of dangling bonds, etc. and on the other hand, in the field of organic electronics, carbon nanotubes offer advantages such as high conductivity, high carrier mobility, optical transparency (in visible and IR spectral ranges), flexibility, robustness, environmental resistance, etc. and hence, they are seriously being considered as contenders to silicon and ITO. This review traces the origin of carbon nanotubes in the field of organic electronics (with emphasis on organic light emitting diodes) and moves on to cover the latest advances in the field of carbon nanotube-based organic light emitting diodes. Topics that are covered within include applications of multi-wall nanotubes and single-wall nanotubes in organic light emitting diodes. Applications of carbon nanotubes as hole-transport layers, as electron-transport layers, as transparent electrodes, etc. in organic light emitting diodes are discussed and the daunting challenges facing this progressive field today are brought into the limelight.

Temperature and voltage dependent current–voltage behavior of single-walled carbon nanotube transparent conducting films

“…It may need an open voltage around 4 V to overcome the energy barrier for good conductivity. This may influence the device performance under low voltage, for example, higher turnon voltage in OLEDs using CNT TCFs as electrodes [11,30]. Hence, it should pay more attention when design device using CNT films as electrodes under low voltage at room temperature.…”

A New Silver‐Based Precursor as Ink for Soft Printing Techniques

“…[1][2][3][4] With increasing demand for structured transparent electrodes, printings of functional materials like transparent conductive oxides, [5,6] conductive polymers, [7] carbon-based materials, [8,9] or metals [10,11] have attracted much attention in recent years. [12,13] In particular, silver-based materials have been studied due to their advantages like very low resistivity, stability, and flexibility compared to transparent conductive oxides or polymers and carbon-based materials.…”

Controlled Electroluminescence from Films Composed of Mixed Bio‐Composites and Nanotubes

“…This has previously been demonstrated by blending MWNTs with polymers and using the resulting composite materials either as electrodes or as charge-transport layers in the device. [9][10][11][12] In early attempts, Romero et al [13] fabricated a diode comprised of MWNTs and poly(2,5-bis(cholestanoxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene) in which the MWNT layer served as the hole-injecting layer. However, no light emission was observed from this device, probably owing to the excessive thick polymer layer surrounding the carbon nanotubes.…”