Spectroscopic studies and electrical properties of transparent conductive films fabricated by using surfactant-stabilized single-walled carbon nanotube suspensions

This study evaluates the effect of anionic and cationic surfactants on the dispersion of purified SWCNTs in water in terms of dispersibility and on electrical conductivity of TCFs and electronic band structures of SWCNTs. The dispersibility of surfactants in an aqueous SWCNT suspension is assessed with the amount of SWCNTs dispersed, the content of surfactants required to suspend SWCNTs, and the long-term stability of dispersion. Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) shows better dispersibility and electrical conductivity of SWCNTs than sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium cholate, and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide. Electronic band structures of SWCNTs vary with surfactants and nitric acid treatment, investigated by using UV–Vis–NIR and Raman spectroscopy. Metallic and semiconducting SWCNTs and surfactants make electrostatic charge interactions between them, which occur in different manners according to the electronic types of tubes and the natures of surfactants. TCFs are fabricated by using the SWCNT suspension dispersed with SDBS, which reveal a low percolation threshold with the two dimensional percolation behavior. The highest ratio of dc to optical conductivity (σdc/σop) is observed to be ∼23.1, corresponding to sheet resistance of 69 Ω/sq at the 550-nm optical transmission of 80%, upon nitric acid treatment of the SWCNT films.