This paper reports a high-throughput, label-free technique to visualize individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on a silicon wafer using a conventional optical microscope. We show that individual CNTs can locally enhance the rate of vapor-phase HF etching of SiO2 to produce a SiO2 trench that is several to several tens of nanometers in depth. The trench is visible under an optical microscope due to ...

We examine the effect of van der Waals (vdW) interactions between atomic force microscope tips and individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs) supported on SiO2. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations reveal how CNTs deform during atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurement, irrespective of the AFM tip material. The apparent height of a single(double-) walled CNT can be used to estimate its diameter up to ~2...

A novel Nafion®-based nanocomposite membrane was synthesized to be applied as direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were coated with a layer of silica and then reacted by chlorosulfonic acid to produce sulfonate-functionalized silicon dioxide coated carbon nanotubes (CNT@SiO2-SO3H). The functionalized CNTs were then introduced to Nafion®, and subsequently, methanol permeab...

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have large intrinsic carrier mobility due to weak acoustic phonon scattering. However, unlike two-dimensional metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), substrate surface polar phonon (SPP) scattering has a dramatic effect on the CNTFET mobility, due to the reduced vertical dimensions of the latter. We find that for the van der Waals distance between C...

Objective This project is investigating the use of carbon nanotubes (CNT) for transparent conducting electrodes in photovoltaic applications. In order to decrease the sheet resistance, both the electronic properties of the CNTs – namely the tube conductivity and tube-to-tube contact resistance – and the sheet morphology have to be controlled. This research aims to reach this target through the ...

Dynamic atomic force microscopy (dynamic AFM) with carbon nanotube tips has been suggested as an enabling tool for high precision nanometrology of critical dimension features of semiconductor surfaces. We investigate the performance of oscillating AFM microcantilevers with multi-walled carbon nanotube (multi-walled CNT) tips interacting with high aspect ratio structures while in the attractive ...

We describe a pulsed measurement technique for suppressing hysteresis for carbon nanotube (CNT) device measurements in air, vacuum, and over a wide temperature range (80-453 K). Varying the gate pulse width and duty cycle probes the relaxation times associated with charge trapping near the CNT, found to be up to the 0.1-10 s range. Longer off times between voltage pulses enable consistent, hyst...

Owing to their high thermal conductivities, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising for use in advanced thermal interface materials. While there has been much previous research on the properties of isolated CNTs, there are few thermal data for aligned films of single wall nanotubes. Furthermore, such data for nanotube films do not separate volume from interface thermal resistances. This paper use...

In this study, the mechanical properties of geopolymer mortar composites containing different nanomaterials were investigated. Metakaolin (MK) and fly ash (FA) used as binders in samples. Sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution (12 M) alkali activators. Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MW-CNT), nano-SiO2 (NS), nano-ZnO (NZ) study. Geopolymer samples without determined control sa...