Conductivity of single-walled carbon nanotubes deposited by composite electric-field guided assembly (CEGA) method

This paper reports the conductivity characteristic of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) deposited by composite electric-field guided assembly (CEGA) method. The CEGA is a recently developed method for depositing individual multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in an array, but is used for depositing a net of SWCNTs in this work. SWCNTs dispersed and diluted in dichlorobenzene solution are deposited on micro-patterned electrodes by the CEGA method, and the conductivity related to the key parameters of the CEGA is investigated. According to experiments, the conductivity is increased as the remaining amount of solvent is removed, and as the overall strength and the DC-to-AC ratio of applied electric field are increased. Explanation to the experimental results involves the understanding of the deposition mechanism linked to the interaction among nanoparticles, liquid, and electric field. The results are useful in fabricating nanotube-based sensors with reproducible electrical properties when the CEGA is used.