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Nano Research 2013, 6(2): 149-158 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-013-0290-1
Research Article | Issue | Published: 29 January 2013

Improved photoconductive properties of composite nanofibers based on aligned conjugated polymer and single-walled carbon nanotubes

Show Author's Information Florian Massuyeau1( ),  Yuanchun Zhao1,  Abdel Aziz El Mel1,  Abu Yaya1,  Frédéric Geschier1,  Eric Gautron1,  Serge Lefrant1,  Jean Yves Mevellec1,  Chris Ewels1,  Chain-Shu Hsu2,  Eric Faulques1,  Jany Wéry1,  Jean Luc Duvail1( )
Institut des Matériaux Jean RouxelUMR6502 CNRS, Université de Nantes, 2 rue de la HoussinièreF-44322, NantesFrance
Department of Applied ChemistryChiao Tung University1001 Ta Hsueh RoadHsin-Chu30010Taiwan, China
Keywords:
transport properties, density functional theory (DFT) calculation, photoconductivity, single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT), Tubular nanocomposites, conjugated polymer
Cite this article:
Massuyeau F, Zhao Y, Aziz El Mel A, et al. Improved photoconductive properties of composite nanofibers based on aligned conjugated polymer and single-walled carbon nanotubes. Nano Research, 2013, 6(2): 149-158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-013-0290-1
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

We successfully address the challenge of aligning single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and conjugated polymer chains in composite nanofibers for enhancing their opto-electrical properties. A pore-filling template strategy has been developed to prepare such nanocomposites from SWNTs and poly(para-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) chains, with both species well-oriented aligned along the pore axis. Addition of the SWNTs leads to a remarkable increase in photocurrent of four orders of magnitude as compared to equivalent pristine PPV nanofibers. Further analysis indicates that the strong photocurrent enhancement is not simply an effect of alignment, but additionally benefits from alignment-enhanced interaction of polymer chains with SWNTs, as supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations.


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About this article

Improved photoconductive properties of composite nanofibers based on aligned conjugated polymer and single-walled carbon nanotubes

Show Author's information Florian Massuyeau1( ), Yuanchun Zhao1, Abdel Aziz El Mel1, Abu Yaya1, Frédéric Geschier1, Eric Gautron1, Serge Lefrant1, Jean Yves Mevellec1, Chris Ewels1, Chain-Shu Hsu2, Eric Faulques1, Jany Wéry1, Jean Luc Duvail1( )
Institut des Matériaux Jean RouxelUMR6502 CNRS, Université de Nantes, 2 rue de la HoussinièreF-44322, NantesFrance
Department of Applied ChemistryChiao Tung University1001 Ta Hsueh RoadHsin-Chu30010Taiwan, China

Abstract

We successfully address the challenge of aligning single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and conjugated polymer chains in composite nanofibers for enhancing their opto-electrical properties. A pore-filling template strategy has been developed to prepare such nanocomposites from SWNTs and poly(para-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) chains, with both species well-oriented aligned along the pore axis. Addition of the SWNTs leads to a remarkable increase in photocurrent of four orders of magnitude as compared to equivalent pristine PPV nanofibers. Further analysis indicates that the strong photocurrent enhancement is not simply an effect of alignment, but additionally benefits from alignment-enhanced interaction of polymer chains with SWNTs, as supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Keywords: transport properties, density functional theory (DFT) calculation, photoconductivity, single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT), Tubular nanocomposites, conjugated polymer

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 03 October 2012
Revised: 13 December 2012
Accepted: 28 December 2012
Published: 29 January 2013
Issue date: February 2013

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We thank O. Chauvet for useful discussions and N. Stephant for useful help in SEM characterization. Part of this work was funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR) programme No. ANR-08- BLAN-0180-CSD3 entitled "Nanormade".

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