Electrospray Deposition of Carbon Nanotube Thin Films for Flexible Transparent Electrodes

Flexible transparent carbon nanotube (CNT) electrodes were fabricated by electrospray deposition, a large-area scalable and cost-effective process. The carbon nanotubes were dispersed in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and deposited on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates by electrospray deposition process at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Major process variables were characterized and optimized for the electrospray process development such as electric field between nozzle and substrates, CNT solution flowrate, gap between nozzle and substrates, solution concentration, solvent properties and surface temperature. The sheet resistance of the electrospray deposited CNT films were reduced by HNO3 doping process. 169 Omega/sq sheet resistance and 86% optical transmittance was achieved with low surface roughness of 1.2 nm. The films showed high flexibility and transparency, making them potential replacements of ITO or ZnO in such as solid state lighting, touch panels, and solar cells. Electrospray process is a scalable process and we believe that this process can be applied for large area carbon nanotube film formation.