Exploring the alignment of carbon nanotubes dispersed in a liquid crystal matrix using coplanar electrodes

Volpati, D.; Massey, M.K.; Johnson, D.W.; Kotsialos, A.; Qaiser, F.; Pearson, C.; Coleman, K.S.; Tiburzi, G.; Zeze, D.A.; Petty, M.C.

doi:10.1063/1.4916080

Exploring the alignment of carbon nanotubes dispersed in a liquid crystal matrix using coplanar electrodes

Volpati, D.; Massey, M.K.; Johnson, D.W.; Kotsialos, A.; Qaiser, F.; Pearson, C.; Coleman, K.S.; Tiburzi, G.; Zeze, D.A.; Petty, M.C.

Authors

D. Volpati

M.K. Massey

D.W. Johnson

A. Kotsialos

F. Qaiser

C. Pearson

Professor Karl Coleman k.s.coleman@durham.ac.uk
Academic Visitor

G. Tiburzi

Professor Dagou Zeze d.a.zeze@durham.ac.uk
Professor

M.C. Petty

Abstract

We report on the use of a liquid crystalline host medium to align single-walled carbon nanotubes in an electric field using an in-plane electrode configuration. Electron microscopy reveals that the nanotubes orient in the field with a resulting increase in the DC conductivity in the field direction. Current versus voltage measurements on the composite show a nonlinear behavior, which was modelled by using single-carrier space-charge injection. The possibility of manipulating the conductivity pathways in the same sample by applying the electrical field in different (in-plane) directions has also been demonstrated. Raman spectroscopy indicates that there is an interaction between the nanotubes and the host liquid crystal molecules that goes beyond that of simple physical mixing.

Citation

Volpati, D., Massey, M., Johnson, D., Kotsialos, A., Qaiser, F., Pearson, C., …Petty, M. (2015). Exploring the alignment of carbon nanotubes dispersed in a liquid crystal matrix using coplanar electrodes. Journal of Applied Physics, 117(12), Article 125303. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4916080

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Feb 28, 2015
Online Publication Date	Mar 24, 2015
Publication Date	Mar 28, 2015
Deposit Date	Apr 17, 2015
Publicly Available Date	Apr 22, 2015
Journal	Journal of Applied Physics
Print ISSN	0021-8979
Electronic ISSN	1089-7550
Publisher	American Institute of Physics
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	117
Issue	12
Article Number	125303
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4916080

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Copyright Statement
© 2015 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Journal of Applied Physics 117, 125303 (2015) and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4916080.