Highly conductive single-walled carbon nanotube thin film preparation by direct alignment on substrates from water dispersions.

A safe, scalable method for producing highly conductive aligned films of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) from water suspensions is presented. While microfluidic assembly of SWNTs has received significant attention, achieving desirable SWNT dispersion and morphology in fluids without an insulating surfactant or toxic superacid is challenging. We present a method that uniquely produces a noncorrosive ink that can be directly applied to a device in situ, which is different from previous fabrication techniques. Functionalized SWNTs (f-SWNTs) are dispersed in an aqueous urea solution to leverage binding between the amine group of urea and the carboxylic acid group of f-SWNTs and obtain urea-SWNT. Compared with SWNTs dispersed using conventional methods (e.g., superacid and surfactants), the dispersed urea-SWNT aggregates have a higher aspect ratio with a rodlike morphology as measured by light scattering. The Mayer rod technique is used to prepare urea-SWNT, highly aligned films (two-dimensional nematic order parameter of 0.6, 5 µm spot size, via polarized Raman) with resistance values as low as 15-1700 Ω/sq in a transmittance range of 2-80% at 550 nm. These values compete with the best literature values for conductivity of SWNT-enabled thin films. The findings offer promising opportunities for industrial applications relying on highly conductive thin SWNT films.

Mechanism for strong binding of CdSe quantum dots to multiwall carbon nanotubes for solar energy harvesting.

As hybrid nanomaterials have myriad of applications in modern technology, different functionalization strategies are being intensely sought for preparing nanocomposites with tunable properties and structures. Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube (MWNT)/CdSe Quantum Dot (QD) heterostructures serve as an important example for an active component of solar cells. The attachment mechanism of CdSe QDs and MWNTs is known to affect the charge transfer between them and consequently to alter the efficiency of solar cell devices. In this study, we present a novel method that enables the exchange of some of the organic capping agents on the QDs with carboxyl functionalized MWNTs upon ultrasonication. This produces a ligand-free covalent attachment of the QDs to the MWNTs. EXAFS characterization reveals direct bond formation between the CdSe QDs and the MWNTs. The amount of oleic acid exchanged is quantified by temperature-programmed decomposition; the results indicate that roughly half of the oleic acid is removed from the QDs upon functionalized MWNT addition. Additionally, we characterize the optical and structural properties of the QD-MWNT heterostructures and investigate how these properties are affected by the attachment. The steady state photoluminescence response of QDs is completely quenched. The lifetime of the PL of the QDs measured with time resolved photoluminescence shows a significant decrease after they are covalently bonded to functionalized MWNTs, suggesting a fast charge transfer between QDs and MWNTs. Our theoretical calculations are consistent with and support these experimental findings and provide microscopic models for the QD binding mechanisms.

Enzyme kinetics by directly imaging a porous silicon microfluidic reactor using desorption/ionization on silicon mass spectrometry.

Enzyme kinetics were obtained in a porous silicon microfluidic channel by combining an enzyme and substrate droplet, allowing them to react and deposit a small amount of residue on the channel walls, and then analyzing this residue by directly ionizing the channel walls using a matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) laser source. The porous silicon of the channel walls functions in a manner analogous to the matrix in MALDI-MS, and is referred to as a desorption/ionization on silicon mass spectrometry (DIOS-MS) target when used in this configuration. Mass spectrometry signal intensity of substrate residue correlates with relative concentration, and position in the microchannel correlates with time, thus allowing determination of kinetic parameters. The system is especially suitable for initial reaction velocity determination. This microreactor is broadly applicable to time-resolved kinetic assays as long as at least one substrate or product of the reaction is ionizable by DIOS-MS.