Aligned SWNT Films from Low-Yield Stress Gels and Their Transparent Electrode Performance

Carbon nanotube films are promising for transparent electrodes for solar cells and displays. Large-area alignment of the nanotubes in these films is needed to minimize the sheet resistance. We present a novel coating method to coat high-density, aligned nanotubes over large areas. Carbon nanotube gel dispersions used in this study have aligned domains and a low yield stress. A simple shearing force allows these domains to uniformly align. We use this to correlate the transparent electrode performance of single-walled carbon nanotube films with the level of partial alignment. We have found that the transparent electrode performance improves with increasing levels of alignment and in a manner slightly better than what has been previously predicted.