Selective small-diameter metallic single-walled carbon nanotube removal by mere standing with anthraquinone and application to a field-effect transistor

Zhi Dai, Liangyu Yan, Sk Mahasin Alam, Junluo Feng, Pyria Rose Divina Mariathomas, Yuan Chen, Chang Ming Li, Qing Zhang, Lain Jong Li, Kok Hwa Lim, Mary B. Chan-Park

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Small-diameter metallic single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) were separated from larger diameter semiconducting SWNT when CoMoCAT samples (supplied with abundance of (6,5) species) were left standing at ambient laboratory condition for a few days in dimethylformamide solution containing ethylanthraquinone (EAQ). SWNT enriched in larger diameter semiconducting species by this method were used to fabricate SWNT network-based thin film transistors (TFTs). The resulting devices had mobilities of 0.2 cm2/(V s) and on/off ratios of about 104. The on/off ratios were greatly improved, by approximately 2 orders of magnitude, over those of TFTs made with pristine SWNT. The enrichment in semiconducting tubes was corroborated by UV-vis-NIR absorption, photoluminescence excitation (PLE), and resonance Raman scattering spectroscopy. Density functional simulations show that hydroxyl radicals preferentially attack small-diameter metallic and then small-diameter semiconducting nanotubes over larger diameter semiconducting tubes. We propose that EAQ forms radicals in ambient lighted conditions, resulting in this diameter- and metallicity-selective reaction which increases the density of the target species, promoting their sedimentation under centrifugation. This simple method of obtaining semiconducting-enriched SWNT samples should be widely applicable for printed electronic devices.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)21035-21041
Number of pages7
JournalJOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C
Volume114
Issue number49
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 16 2010
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • General Energy
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Surfaces, Coatings and Films

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