Recent Developments in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Thin Films Fabricated by Dry Floating Catalyst Chemical Vapor Deposition

Transparent conducting films (TCFs) are critical components of many optoelectronic devices that pervade modern technology. Due to their excellent optoelectronic properties and flexibility, single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) films are regarded as an important alternative to doped metal oxides or brittle and expensive ceramic materials. Compared with liquid-phase processing, the dry floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition (FCCVD) method without dispersion of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in solution is more direct and simpler. By overcoming the tradeoff between CNT length and solubility during film fabrication, the dry FCCVD method enables production of films that contain longer CNTs and offer excellent optoelectronic properties. This review focuses on fabrication of SWNT films using the dry FCCVD method, covering SWNT synthesis, thin-film fabrication and performance regulation, the morphology of SWNTs and bundles, transparency and conductivity characteristics, random bundle films, patterned films, individual CNT networks, and various applications, especially as TCFs in touch displays. Films based on SWNTs produced by the dry FCCVD method are already commercially available for application in touch display devices. Further research on the dry FCCVD method could advance development of not only industrial applications of CNTs but also the fundamental science of related nanostructured materials and nanodevices.