Templating of self-alignment patterns of anisotropic gold nanoparticles on ordered SWNT macrostructures.

We report a simple and versatile technique for oriented assembly of gold nanorods on aligned single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) macrostructures, such as thin nanotube films and nanotube fibers. The deposition and assembly is accomplished via drop drying of dilute gold nanorod suspensions on SWNT macrostructures under ambient conditions. Guided by anisotropic interactions, gold nanorods, and polygonal platelets spontaneously align with SWNTs, resulting in macroscopic arrays of locally ordered nanorods supported on aligned SWNT substrates. SEM reveals that the scalar order parameter of rods relative to the local average SWNT alignment is 0.7 for rods on SWNT films and 0.9 for rods on SWNT fibers. This self-alignment is enabled by anisotropic gold nanoparticle-SWNT interactions and is observed for a wide range of nanoparticles, including nanorods with aspect ratios ranging from 2-35, thin gold triangular and other polygonal platelets. The plasmonic properties of aligned gold nanorods together with superior electronic, chemical and mechanical properties of SWNTs make these hybrid nanocomposites valuable for the design of self-assembled multifunctional optoelectronic materials and optical metamaterials.

Continuous and scalable fabrication of transparent conducting carbon nanotube films.

We report an industrially scalable, fast, and simple process for the large scale fabrication of optically transparent and electrically conducting thin films of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT). Purified, pristine HiPco SWNTs were dispersed in water at high concentrations with the help of surfactants, rod-coated into uniform thin films, and doped by various acids. We show how to combine different surfactants to make uniform dispersions with high concentration of SWNTs and optimal rheological behavior for coating and drying, including preventing dewetting and film rupture that has plagued earlier attempts. Doping by fuming sulfuric acid yielded the films with best performance (sheet resistance of 100 and 300 Omega/sq for respective transparency of 70% and 90%). We use a figure of merit (FOM) plot for an immediate evaluation and comparison of the performance and microstructure of CNT films produced by different methods. Further scientific engineering will pave the way to the deployment of CNT films in commercial applications.