Conversion of metallic single-walled carbon nanotube networks to semiconducting through electrochemical ornamentation

Field-effect transistors (FETs) that incorporate single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) networks experience decreased on-off current ratios (I(on)/I(off)) due to the presence of metallic nanotubes. Herein, we describe a method to increase I(on)/I(off) without the need for either specialized SWNT growth methods or post growth processing steps to remove metallic nanotubes. SWNTs that were grown using conventional arc discharge methods were deposited from aqueous suspension. Then, the SWNTs in the network were decorated with Cu2O nanoparticles that acted as controllable valves that restricted current flow at positive gate voltages. This resulted in an unprecedented reduction in I(off), as the sub-10 nm sized nanoclusters acted as numerous tunable valves, providing greatly improved network sensitivity to gate voltages in the relatively small range of ±10 V, increasing I(on)/I(off) by up to 205-fold. Larger nanoclusters were found to increase the network conductivity but decrease I(on)/I(off). The ability to convert metallic SWNTs to semiconducting without removing them allows for enhanced I(on) and lower noise while still achieving greatly enhanced magnitudes of I(on)/I(off).