Carbon Nanotube–Polymer Composites: Device Properties and Photovoltaic Applications

This chapter provides an in-depth coverage of recent advances in the areas of the development and characterization of electro-optically active, device-grade carbon nanotube (CNT)–polymer blends. These new organic–inorganic multifunctional nanocomposites share many advanced characteristics which make them ideally suited for industrial scale, high-throughput manufacturing of lightweight, flexible electronic, light switching and emitting as well as energy harvesting devices of extremely low cost. The fundamental aspects and the physical mechanisms controlling light–matter interaction, photo-conversion, and photo-generated charge-carrier transport in these nanotube–polymer composites as well as the influence of the processing conditions on the electronic properties and device-related performances are further reviewed and discussed

Room-temperature single-electron charging in electrochemically synthesized semiconductor quantum dot and wire array

Cylindrical quantum dots of diameter ∼8 nm and height 3–10 nm, and wires of diameter 50 nm and height 500–1000 nm, were self-assembled by electrodepositing semiconductors in the nanometer-sized pores of anodic alumina films. Current–voltage characteristics of both wires and dots show Coulomb blockade at room temperature, while the wires also show a Coulomb staircase when exposed to infrared radiation. These results establish that electrochemicalself-assembly is a viable technique for producing nanostructures that have potential uses in room-temperature single electronics

Surface patterning of carbon nanotubes can enhance their penetration through a phospholipid bilayer

Nanotube patterning may occur naturally upon the spontaneous self-assembly of biomolecules onto the surface of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). It results in periodically alternating bands of surface properties, ranging from relatively hydrophilic to hydrophobic, along the axis of the nanotube. Single Chain Mean Field (SCMF) theory has been used to estimate the free energy of systems in which a surface patterned nanotube penetrates a phospholipid bilayer. In contrast to un-patterned nanotubes with uniform surface properties, certain patterned nanotubes have been identified that display a relatively low and approximately constant system free energy (10 kT) as the nanotube traverses through the bilayer. These observations support the hypothesis that the spontaneous self-assembly of bio-molecules on the surface of SWNTs may facilitate nanotube transduction through cell membranes.Comment: Published in ACS Nano http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn102763

Single spin measurement in the solid state: a reader for a spin qubit

We describe a paradigm for measuring a single electron spin in a solid. This is a fundamental problem in condensed matter physics. The technique can be used to read a spin qubit relatively non-invasively in either a spintronic quantum gate or a spintronic quantum memory. The spin reader can be self assembled by simple electrochemical techniques and can be integrated with a quantum gate.Comment: 10 pages of text, 4 figure

Field Emission Properties and Fabrication of CdS Nanotube Arrays

A large area arrays (ca. 40 cm2) of CdS nanotube on silicon wafer are successfully fabricated by the method of layer-by-layer deposition cycle. The wall thicknesses of CdS nanotubes are tuned by controlling the times of layer-by-layer deposition cycle. The field emission (FE) properties of CdS nanotube arrays are investigated for the first time. The arrays of CdS nanotube with thin wall exhibit better FE properties, a lower turn-on field, and a higher field enhancement factor than that of the arrays of CdS nanotube with thick wall, for which the ratio of length to the wall thickness of the CdS nanotubes have played an important role. With increasing the wall thickness of CdS nanotube, the enhancement factorβdecreases and the values of turn-on field and threshold field increase

W18O49 Nanowires as Ultraviolet Photodetector

Photodetectors in a configuration of field effect transistor were fabricated based on individual W18O49 nanowires. Evaluation of electrical transport behavior indicates that the W18O49 nanowires are n-type semiconductors. The photodetectors show high sensitivity, stability and reversibility to ultraviolet (UV) light. A high photoconductive gain of 104 was obtained, and the photoconductivity is up to 60 nS upon exposure to 312 nm UV light with an intensity of 1.6 mW/cm2. Absorption of oxygen on the surface of W18O49 nanowires has a significant influence on the dark conductivity, and the ambient gas can remarkably change the conductivity of W18O49 nanowire. The results imply that W18O49 nanowires will be promising candidates for fabricating UV photodetectors

Synthesis and Characterization of ZnO Nanowire–CdO Composite Nanostructures

ZnO nanowire–CdO composite nanostructures were fabricated by a simple two-step process involving ammonia solution method and thermal evaporation. First, ZnO nanowires (NWs) were grown on Si substrate by aqueous ammonia solution method and then CdO was deposited on these ZnO NWs by thermal evaporation of cadmium chloride powder. The surface morphology and structure of the synthesized composite structures were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The optical absorbance spectrum showed that ZnO NW–CdO composites can absorb light up to 550 nm. The photoluminescence spectrum of the composite structure does not show any CdO-related emission peak and also there was no band gap modification of ZnO due to CdO. The photocurrent measurements showed that ZnO NW–CdO composite structures have better photocurrent when compared with the bare ZnO NWs