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The effect of MWCNTs on the performance of α-sexithiophene OTFT device and its gas-sensing property

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Abstract

In this paper, bottom contact organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) gas sensors were prepared. Silicon dioxide (SiO2) and titanium/aurum (Ti/Au) were used as the insulating layer and the electrode for the device, respectively. The multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/α-sexithiophene (α-6T) bilayer films were used as the active layer, and α-6T single layer sensitive film was also prepared for comparison purpose. The electrical and trace NO2-sening properties of these two OTFT gas sensors were tested and analyzed. The results showed that, the OTFT device based on MWCNTs/α-6T bilayer had obviously better electrical properties, better stabilities and higher NO2-sening response values than the device with α-6T single layer, in which both the carrier mobility (μ) and on/off current ratio enhanced two order of magnitude. The improved performance of bilayer OTFT can be explained that MWCNTs acted as highly conducting bridges connecting the crystalline terraces in the α-6T film. Threshold voltage (V T), carrier mobility, on/off current ratio and grid current which showed extremely similar variation trend as source-drain current, were optional parameters to reveal the gas-sensing characteristic of OTFT gas sensors. Morphology analysis showed that the special feature of MWCNTs had certain influence on the gas-sensing properties.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, China

    HuiLing Tai, Bo Zhang, ChengLi Duan, GuangZhong Xie & YaDong Jiang

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  1. HuiLing Tai
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  2. Bo Zhang
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  3. ChengLi Duan
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  4. GuangZhong Xie
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  5. YaDong Jiang
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Correspondence to HuiLing Tai.

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Tai, H., Zhang, B., Duan, C. et al. The effect of MWCNTs on the performance of α-sexithiophene OTFT device and its gas-sensing property. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 57, 1101–1108 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-014-5539-8

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