Chinese scientists have prepared rice-grade single-walled carbon nanotube films for the first time.

Reporter Shen Hui learned from the Chinese Academy of Sciences: Recently, Sun Dongming team of the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Liu Chang team developed a technology for continuous synthesis, deposition and transfer of single-walled carbon nanotube films, and for the first time, the world-class size was prepared. High-quality single-walled carbon nanotube film, based on which high-performance all-carbon thin-film transistor (TFT) and integrated circuit (IC) devices are constructed.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes are considered to be one of the most competitive candidate materials for flexible and transparent electronic devices due to their excellent mechanical, electrical and optical properties. But can they develop an efficient, macro-prepared high-quality single wall? The preparation method of carbon nanotube film determines whether the material can be put into practical use to a certain extent. The responsible person of the R&D team explained that, firstly, the size of the single-walled carbon nanotube film prepared so far is usually on the order of centimeters, batch preparation. The method can not meet the requirements of large-scale application. Secondly, due to the introduction of impurities and structural defects in the preparation process of carbon nanotube film, the photoelectric performance of the film is degraded, far lower than the theoretical prediction value, and various factors lead to single-walled carbon nanotubes. The preparation of the film has not been ideal.

Through the innovation of the preparation method, the R&D team obtained single-walled carbon nanotube film with a length of more than 2 meters. This is the first time that Chinese scientists have developed the continuous growth, deposition and transfer technology of rice-length single-walled carbon nanotube film for the future. The development of large-area, flexible and transparent electronic devices based on single-walled carbon nanotube films has laid the material foundation.