Carbon Nanotubes Alignment via Electrohydrodynamic Patterning of Nanocomposites

Cavendish Laboratory, and Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of
Cambridge, 2010. - 20 p.Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) pattern formation of carbon nanotube-polymer composite
films yields well-defined patterns on the micrometer scale along with the alignment of carbon
nanotubes (CNTs) within these patterns. Conductive pathways in nanotube networks
formed during EHD patterning of nanocomposite films results in a substantial increase in the
composites’ conductivity at loadings exceeding the percolation threshold. The degree of nanotube
alignment can be tuned by adjusting the EHD parameters and the degree of alignment
is mirrored by the conductivity across the film. Using an etching techniques or by embedding
relatively long nanotubes, patterned surfaces decorated by CNT brushes were generated.