Recent Development of Carbon Nanotube Transparent Conductive Films

Abstract

Transparent conducting films (TCFs) are a critical component in many personal electronic devices. Transparent and conductive doped metal oxides are widely used in industry due to their excellent optoelectronic properties as well as the mature understanding of their production and handling. However, they are not compatible with future flexible electronics developments where large-scale production will likely involve roll-to-roll manufacturing. Recent studies have shown that carbon nanotubes provide unique chemical, physical, and optoelectronic properties, making them an important alternative to doped metal oxides. This Review provides a comprehensive analysis of carbon nanotube transparent conductive films covering detailed fabrication methods including patterning of the films, chemical doping effects, and hybridization with other materials. There is a focus on optoelectronic properties of the films and potential in applications such as photovoltaics, touch panels, liquid crystal displays, and organic light-emitting diodes in conjunction with a critical analysis of both the merits and shortcomings of carbon nanotube transparent conductive films.

Charged Carbon Nanomaterials: Redox Chemistries of Fullerenes, Carbon Nanotubes, and Graphenes

“…Values below 100 Ω/sq at 90% transparency 512 place such systems among the best SWCNT TCFs created to date. 512 The liquid crystallinity of high concentration dispersions of both nanotubide/superacid dispersed SWCNTs can be exploited to form aligned films.…”

Switchable changes in the conductance of single-walled carbon nanotube networks on exposure to water vapour

“…28 Non-covalent functionalisation using a wide variety of surfactant molecules is applied as a route to disperse inherently hydrophobic nanotubes in water for sorting processes, [29][30][31] as well as for a wide variety of SWCNT device fabrication methods. 10,11,[32][33][34] While useful for liquid processing and the deposition of SWCNTs, the electrical properties of the fabricated devices can be significantly altered by the presence of surfactant, 35 due to the blocking of inter-nanotube connections in the network and increased contact resistance. 36,37 The removal of this residual surfactant is possible by washing, 35 annealing 38,39 or acid treatment.…”

Electrochromic Effect in Titanium Carbide MXene Thin Films Produced by Dip‐Coating

“…[6,7] However, indium resources are limited and the material is expensive. [8] Recently, nanomaterial alternatives such as graphene, [9] carbon nanotubes, [10] and metal meshes [11] have attracted attention as potential transparent conductors. [1,9] For example, graphene has shown promising properties due to its low sheet resistance at monolayer transmittance (R s ≈ 60 Ω sq −1 at T = 97.7%); however, high-quality graphene is typically grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or similar bottom-up approaches, which limit large-scale production.…”