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Photoconductive Hybrid Films via Directional Self‐Assembly of C 60 on Aligned Carbon Nanotubes
Author(s) -
Meshot Eric R.,
Patel Keval D.,
Tawfick Sameh,
Juggernauth K. Anne,
Bedewy Mostafa,
Verploegen Eric A.,
De Volder Michaël F. L.,
Hart A. John
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201102393
Subject(s) - materials science , carbon nanotube , rod , crystallization , responsivity , photoconductivity , nanotechnology , polymer , crystal (programming language) , hybrid material , diffraction , chemical engineering , optoelectronics , composite material , optics , photodetector , medicine , programming language , alternative medicine , pathology , computer science , engineering , physics
Hybrid nanostructured materials can exhibit different properties than their constituent components, and can enable decoupled engineering of energy conversion and transport functions. Novel means of building hybrid assemblies of crystalline C 60 and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are presented, wherein aligned CNT films direct the crystallization and orientation of C 60 rods from solution. In these hybrid films, the C 60 rods are oriented parallel to the direction of the CNTs throughout the thickness of the film. High‐resolution imaging shows that the crystals incorporate CNTs during growth, yet grazing‐incidence X‐ray diffraction (GIXD) shows that the crystal structure of the C 60 rods is not perturbed by the CNTs. Growth kinetics of the C 60 rods are enhanced 8‐fold on CNTs compared to bare Si, emphasizing the importance of the aligned, porous morphology of the CNT films as well as the selective surface interactions between C 60 and CNTs. Finally, it is shown how hybrid C 60 –CNT films can be integrated electrically and employed as UV detectors with a high photoconductive gain and a responsivity of 10 5 A W −1 at low biases (± 0.5 V). The finding that CNTs can induce rapid, directional crystallization of molecules from solution may have broader implications to the science and applications of crystal growth, such as for inorganic nanocrystals, proteins, and synthetic polymers.