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The effect of substrate pore size on the network interconnectivity and electrical properties of dropcasted multiwalled carbon nanotube thin films

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Abstract

Four-layer multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) thin films were deposited via dropcasting (1 mg/mL MWNTs and 10 mg/mL SDBS) onto filter papers that vary in pore size (1, 5, 25, and 40 um) to determine the effect of the underlying substrate structure on the in-plane properties of the films. The films (<100 nm thick) were dried using vacuum filtration, and drying in a 65 °C heater with and without a ceramic heating board. DC resistance of the films ranged from 6 × 10 to 9.3 × 109 Ω. Impedance spectroscopy analysis revealed a low and a high frequency inductive response and two parallel R-C circuits for the more conducting thin films. High resistance films were fit by a single RC circuit with a constant-phase element. The differences in the in-plane electrical responses of the different MWNT films can be explained by the degree of carbon nanotube surface coverage, obtained as a result of using different pore size filter papers. The drying method utilized also affected the CNT network formation and its resultant electrical properties.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Boeing Fellowship and Georgia Tech IGERT: Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Conversion for RLM’s support and the Institute for Paper Science and Technology Alumni Association Scholarship Fund for SMJ’s support in completing this project. RAG further acknowledges the US Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences Program under DE-FG02ER46035 for additional support of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, 30332-0245, USA

    Rachel L. Muhlbauer, Salil M. Joshi & Rosario A. Gerhardt

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  1. Rachel L. Muhlbauer
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  2. Salil M. Joshi
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  3. Rosario A. Gerhardt
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Correspondence to Rosario A. Gerhardt.

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Muhlbauer, R.L., Joshi, S.M. & Gerhardt, R.A. The effect of substrate pore size on the network interconnectivity and electrical properties of dropcasted multiwalled carbon nanotube thin films. Journal of Materials Research 28, 1617–1624 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2013.143

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