Effect of purity on the electro-optical properties of single wall nanotube-based transparent conductive electrodes

We present a detailed assessment of centrifugation technique for purification of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for application as transparent conductive electrodes. As-grown and highly-purified SWCNTs were dispersed in surfactants by ultrasonication, and then centrifuged to selectively remove carbonaceous and metal impurities. The centrifuged supernatant suspensions were made into thin films by transferring filtrated nanotube coatings onto glass slides. The absorbance and resistance of nanotube coatings were measured, and their optical purity level estimated from a comparison of the area of the near-infrared S-22 SWCNT optical absorption band relative to the area of the background. The single-step centrifugation process is shown to purify laser-vaporization grown SWCNTs from an initial optical purity of 0.10 to an averaged purity of 0.23, with an 8.8% yield, which is comparable to other purification techniques. The quality of transparent conductive electrodes estimated as a ratio of visible-spectrum absorbance to sheet conductivity is improved by a factor of 12 upon purification. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.