Tunable Electrical Properties of Aligned Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Network-based Devices: Metallization and Chemical Sensor Applications

Here we report the tunable electrical properties and chemical sensor of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) network-based devices with a functionalization technique. Formation of highly aligned SWCNT structures is made on SiO2/Si substrates using a template-based fluidic assembly process. We present a Platinum (Pt)-nanocluster decoration technique that reduces the resistivity of SWCNT network-based devices. This indicates the conversion of the semiconducting SWCNTs into metallic ones. In addition, we present the Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) gas detection by a redox reaction based on SWCNT networks functionalized with 2,2,6,6-Tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) as a catalyst. We summarize current changes of devices resulting from the redox reactions in the presence of H2S. The semiconducting (s)-SWCNT device functionalized with TEMPO shows high gas response of 420% at 60% humidity level compared to 140% gas response without TEMPO functionalization, which is about 3 times higher than bare s-SWCNT sensor at the same RH. These results reflect promising perspectives for real-time monitoring of H2S gases with high gas response and low power consumption.