High-yield sorting of small-diameter carbon nanotubes for solar cells and transistors

  1. Wang, H. 1
  2. Koleilat, G.I. 1
  3. Liu, P. 2
  4. Jiménez-Osés, G. 2
  5. Lai, Y.-C. 13
  6. Vosgueritchian, M. 1
  7. Fang, Y. 1
  8. Park, S. 1
  9. Houk, K.N. 2
  10. Bao, Z. 1
  1. 1 Stanford University
    info

    Stanford University

    Stanford, Estados Unidos

    ROR https://ror.org/00f54p054

  2. 2 University of California Los Angeles
    info

    University of California Los Angeles

    Los Ángeles, Estados Unidos

    ROR https://ror.org/046rm7j60

  3. 3 National Taiwan University
    info

    National Taiwan University

    Taipéi, Taiwán

    ROR https://ror.org/05bqach95

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Revista:
ACS Nano

ISSN: 1936-0851

Año de publicación: 2014

Volumen: 8

Número: 3

Páginas: 2609-2617

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.1021/NN406256Y SCOPUS: 2-s2.0-84896974112 WoS: WOS:000333539400075 GOOGLE SCHOLAR

Otras publicaciones en: ACS Nano

Resumen

We describe herein a high-yield method to selectively disperse semiconducting CoMoCAT (CO disproportionation on Co-Mo catalysts) single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with regioregular poly(3-alkylthiophenes) polymers. We observed that the dispersion yield was directly related to the length of the polymer's alkyl side chains. Molecular dynamics simulations in explicit toluene (real toluene molecules) indicate that polythiophenes with longer alkyl side chains bind strongly to SWNTs, due to the increased overall surface contact area with the nanotube. Furthermore, the sorting process selectively enriches smaller-diameter CoMoCAT SWNTs with larger bandgaps, which is ideal for solar cell applications. Compared to the larger diameter sorted HiPco (High-Pressure CO) SWNTs, solar cells fabricated using our sorted CoMoCAT SWNTs demonstrated higher open-circuit voltage (Voc) and infrared external quantum efficiency (EQE). The Voc achieved is the highest reported for solar cells based on SWNT absorbers under simulated AM1.5 solar illumination. Additionally, we employed the sorted CoMoCAT SWNTs to fabricate thin film transistors with excellent uniformity and device performance. © 2014 American Chemical Society.