Effect of surfactant and coating method on the electrical and optical properties of thin conductive films prepared with single-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract Single-walled carbon nanotubes were purified by conventional method of thermal oxidation followed by acid treatment and coated as a thin conductive film on flexible poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate. The morphology and sheet resistance of the conductive films were largely dependent on the surfactant used for dispersing the nanotubes and the coating method. We achieved a sheet resistance of 332 Ω sq−1 with 80% optical transmittance at a wavelength of 550 nm for an optimized thin film. The highly conductive, transparent and flexible thin film prepared by our method is expected to be competent for the flexible electronic applications.