Solution Casting and Transfer Printing Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Films

This paper presents methods for solution casting and transfer printing collections of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) onto a wide range of substrates, including plastic sheets. The deposition involves introduction of a solvent that removes surfactant from a suspension of SWNTs as it is applied to a substrate. The subsequent controlled flocculation (cF) produces films of SWNTs with densities that can be varied between a few tubes per square micron to thick multilayers in a single deposition step and with orientation determined by the direction of solution flow. High-resolution rubber stamps inked in this manner can be used to print patterns of tubes with geometries defined by the relief structure on the surface of the stamp. Thin film transistors fabricated with these techniques demonstrate their potential use in flexible “macroelectronic” systems.