Sonochemical hybridization of carbon nanotubes with gold nanoparticles for the production of flexible transparent conducing films

We have demonstrated the fabrication of flexible, transparent, conducting multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/gold nanoparticle hybrid films with improved optoelectronic properties by combining the ionic liquid-assisted sonochemical method (ILASM) for hybrid synthesis with the vacuum filtration (VF) method for thin film preparation. Au nanoparticles (NPs) with diameters of 10.3 ± 1.5 nm were uniformly distributed onto the sidewalls of MWCNTs through ILASM, and flexible, transparent, conducting films of Au/MWCNT hybrids (HBs) were reproducibly fabricated by the VF method. In particular, the sheet resistance of Au-MWCNT-HB films was more than 2-fold lower than the sheet resistance of pristine MWCNT films due to the well-interconnected three-dimensional nanotube network structure and the synergistic effect of hybridization of MWCNTs with Au-NPs.