Convenient but powerful method to dope single-walled carbon nanotube films with iodonium salts

Abstract

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) demonstrate unique properties of both electrical and thermal conductivity, but at the moment of producing a network composed of multiple nanotubes, these values sharply decrease. It is associated with the presence of defects in the nanotube network structure, as well as with the dissipation phenomena at the junctions between SWCNTs. One of the methods to alleviate this problem is doping. In our study, we obtained a film made of high-quality SWCNTs doped with three types of iodonium salts: Barluenga’s reagent (bispyridineiodonium tetrafluoroborate, IPy2BF4), pyridine iodine monochloride (IPyCl) and diphenyliodonium chloride (DPIC). We recorded a significant improvement in electrical properties after doping with IPy2BF4 and IPyCl, by as much as 224% and 322%, respectively. What is more, we noted improvement in thermal conductivity, which amounted to over 50% when the material was doped with IPyCl. Our research indicates that permanent doping of CNT-based ensembles is possible with iodonium salts. The process significantly improves electrical conductivity, and the compounds themselves are more convenient to work with rather than when other halogen-based dopants are used commonly for this purpose.