Uniform percolation of inkjet-printed polymer-semiconductor-wrapped carbon nanotube networks by blending with insulating polymer

The enhanced performance uniformity of thin-film transistors (TFTs) fabricated by inkjet printing of polymer-semiconductor-wrapped single-walled carbon nanotube (PSC/SWCNT) networks blended with an insulating polymer binder was investigated. The inkjet-printed PSC/SWCNT network TFTs exhibited varied device performance with a field-effect mobility of 6.15 +/- 6.75 cm(2)/V.s; the inkjet-printed TFTs fabricated using the poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-blended PSC/SWCNT layer as a channel exhibited relatively uniform device performance, with a field-effect mobility of 7.57 +/- 3.32 cm(2)/V.s. This notable difference in device performance uniformity is attributed to the blended PMMA, which prevented the PSC/SWCNTs from forming random aggregates and facilitated their uniform percolation when they were inkjet-printed. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.