Methods of preparing single-walled carbon nanotube networks
Methods for determining desired doping conditions for a semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube (s-SWCNT) are provided. One exemplary method includes doping each of a plurality of s-SWCNT networks under a respective set of doping conditions; determining a thermoelectric (TE) power factor as a function of a fractional bleach of an absorption spectrum for the plurality of s-SWCNT networks doped under the respective sets of doping conditions; and using the function to identify one of the TE power factors within a range of the fractional bleach of the absorption spectrum. The identified TE power factor corresponds to the desired doping conditions.
1. A composition comprising:
a network comprising a semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube (s-SWCNT),
a dopant comprising dodecaborane; and
a thermoelectric (TE) power factor between about 180 μW m −1 K −2 and about 900 μW m −1 K −2 , wherein:
the dodecaborane is functionalized with a group comprising at least one of 4-trifluoromethylbenzyloxy, 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzyloxy, or 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyloxy, and
the composition is polymer free.
2. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising an electronic band gap between about 0.8 eV and about 1.2 eV.
3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the s-SWCNT has an average diameter between about 0.7 nm and about 2.0 nm.
4. The composition of claim 3 , wherein the average diameter is between about 1.0 nm and about 1.1 nm.
5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the s-SWCNT is a chiral species.
6. The composition of claim 5 , wherein the s-SWCNT comprises a plurality of chiral species.
7. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising a carrier density between about 1×10 17 holes/cm 3 and about 1×10 20 holes/cm 3 .
8. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the network comprises a bundle of the s-SWCNT having a size between about 5 nm and about 50 nm.
9. The composition of claim 1 , comprising an electrical conductivity between about 10 3 S/m and about 10 5 S/m.
10. The composition of claim 9 , comprising a thermopower between about 100 μV/K and about 200 μV/K.
11. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition is in the form of a film.
12. The composition of claim 11 , wherein the film has a thickness between 20 nm and 100 nm.
13. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the dodecaborane has 12 groups per dodecaborane molecule.