Electrodeposition of Gold, Silver on Carbon Nanotube Thin Films

In a carbon nanotube (CNT) thin film, CNTs form complicated networks with numerous junctions where individual CNTs intersect or simply contact other CNTs. This results in a significant reduction of the electrical conductivity of the film as compared with the intrinsic conductivity of the CNT. Because of this, the current state of the art CNT films are unsuitable for many information display applications. We were able to overcome this issue by developing an electrodeposition process in which a precise amount of metal such as gold or silver was deposited onto CNT films. This process uniquely allows a small amount of metal to be preferentially and uniformly deposited on the CNTs and at CNT junctions. With additional heat treatment, the conductivity of the CNT film increases by more than four times while its optical transmittance remains unchanged