Researchers triple carbon nanotube yield for LEDs

Skoltech scientists have discovered a way to improve the yield of single-walled carbon nanotube films, which are used in a variety of applications such as solar cells, LEDs, flexible and transparent electronics, smart textiles, medical imaging, toxic gas detectors, and filtration systems.

By adding hydrogen gas along with carbon monoxide to the reaction chamber, the team was able to almost triple the carbon nanotube yield compared to when other growth promoters are used, without compromising quality 1. Until now, low yield has been the bottleneck limiting the potential of that manufacturing technology, otherwise known for high product quality 1. The study has been published in the Chemical Engineering Journal.

Carbon nanotubes are a form of carbon where sheets of atoms in a honeycomb arrangement—known as graphene—are seamlessly rolled into hollow cylinders 1. They vary in length, diameter, and so-called chirality (how the honeycomb pattern is “skewed”), as well as whether the tube is single-walled or has other, wider tubes around it, making it “multiwalled”. The properties of carbon nanotubes vary widely based on the above parameters. Chirality, for example, controls their electrical conductivity 1. Carbon nanotubes are manufactured as powder, thin films, fibers, and in other forms, depending on the application they are intended for.