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Enhanced electrical properties in carbon nanotube/poly (3-hexylthiophene) nanocomposites formed through non-covalent functionalization

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Abstract

Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) has received much attention as a good candidate to replace inorganic semiconductors for flexible electronics due to its solution-processability. However, the low charge mobility of P3HT is an obstacle to its commercialization. To overcome this problem, we propose a new non-covalent functionalization method for carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for use in CNT/P3HT nanocomposites. By using modified pyrene molecules with hydrophobic long alkyl chains, the non-covalently functionalized CNTs can become well dispersed in hydrophobic solutions and organic semiconductor matrices. Fabrication of organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) from the non-covalently functionalized CNT/organic semiconductor nanocomposites shows that our non-covalent functionalization method significantly reduces damage to CNTs during functionalization when compared with covalent functionalization by treatment with acids. The OTFTs show 15 times enhancement of field effect mobility (1.5 × 10−2 cm2/(V·s)) compared to the mobility of OTFTs made from pure P3HT. This enhancement is achieved by addition of only 0.25 wt% of CNTs to P3HT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Material Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 305-701, Republic of Korea

    Sung Hye Park, Sung Hwan Jin, Gwang Hoon Jun, Seokwoo Jeon & Soon Hyung Hong

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  1. Sung Hye Park
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  2. Sung Hwan Jin
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  3. Gwang Hoon Jun
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  4. Seokwoo Jeon
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  5. Soon Hyung Hong
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Correspondence to Seokwoo Jeon or Soon Hyung Hong.

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The first two authors contributed equally to this work

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Park, S.H., Jin, S.H., Jun, G.H. et al. Enhanced electrical properties in carbon nanotube/poly (3-hexylthiophene) nanocomposites formed through non-covalent functionalization. Nano Res. 4, 1129–1135 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-011-0161-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-011-0161-6

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