Preparation of acylamino copper Phthalocyanine modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes thin films with oxygen plasma treatment

• Hybrid MWCNTs/AM-CuPc thin films were prepared with oxygen plasma treatment.
• The functional composite materials showed a low aggregation tendency and good absorption both in the UV and visible region.
• The results showed that the doping ratio can affect the band gap of the compound.

Hybrid thin films based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and acylamino copper phthalocyanine (AM-CuPc) were prepared with oxygen plasma treatment technology. The effect of doping ratio on the photoelectric property of the films was investigated. The structure and morphology were characterized by Fourier transformed infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The functional composites exhibited excellent dispersing property and the covalent bonds were formed between MWCNT and AM-CuPc. The UV–vis absorption spectra showed the absorbility was improved. In addition, the band gap was affected by the doping ratio and it was minimum of 1.63 eV when the MWCNT-doping content was 40%. It will supply a new way to synthetize solar energy materials with different band gap.