Single-walled carbon nanotubes were chemically functionalized by virtue of the interactions between the nanotube-bound carboxylic moieties and octadecylamine ligands. The electronic conductivity properties of the resulting nanotubes were probed voltammetrically. Two approaches were employed. The first entailed the fabrication of a nanotube monolayer at the air|water interface and the conductivi...

A thin diamond-like carbon (DLC) film was deposited onto a densely packed "forest" of vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes (VACNT). DLC deposition caused the tips of the CNTs to clump together to form a microstructured surface. Field-emission tests of this new composite material show the typical low threshold voltages for carbon nanotube structures (2 V μm(-1)) but with greatly incre...

Vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotube arrays were synthesized from dip-coated binary Co/Mo catalyst by no-flow chemical vapor deposition from either pure ethanol or acetonitrile as carbon feedstock. By changing to acetonitrile the mean diameter was reduced from 2.1 nm to less than 1.0 nm despite using identically prepared catalyst. The demonstrated diameter control on flat substrates...

A facile patterning method for the functionalization of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes is described. Modification of the surface of nanotube forests with hydrophilic, hydrophobic, or polymerizable small molecules was achieved via UV-triggered attachment of perfluoroarylazides. Multiple functionalizations of the tube surface can be achieved. Macro- and micropatterning of forest substrates w...

We have demonstrated that the infiltration of temperature-responsive polymers (e.g., PNIPAAm) into vertically-aligned carbon nanotube forests created synergetic effects, which provided the basis for the development of smart nanocomposite films with temperature-induced self-cleaning and/or controlled release capabilities.

Mechanical properties and deformation of the vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays (VA-CNTs) has been examined with large-displacement indentation tests inside a scanning electronic microscope (SEM). The in-situ indentation allows for establishment of the load-depth responses and real-time observations of the deformation processes. Under a cylindrical, flat indenter, the VA-CNTs exhibit ela...

Here we show that the conventional concept of using SiO2 patterned Si substrates to selectively grow 3D carbon nanotube structures can also be applied to a dip-coating method. High-quality vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) patterns can be easily obtained by this protocol. Apart from the sintering of catalyst into Si at high temperature, the difference in surface wettabilit...