Transport in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube
Coatings of Silica Fibers
Nikesh Koirala and Pradeep Subedi,
St. John’s University Student
Robin Helburn, Department of
Chemistry, Pace University
Qi Lu and Vladimir Samuilov,
Department of Physics, St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences
Abstract: Since their
discovery, carbon nanotubes have triggered myriads of studies owing
to their unique mechanical and electronic properties. Herein, we
describe a novel approach to the assembly of SWCNT-based system and
its properties in electric transport and magnetotransport. The
dense coating of SWCNTs on silica fiber was assembled through the
creation of hydrocarbon chains on the surface of silica fiber by
the silanization method. The SWCNTs, either acid oxidized or
pristine, were dispersed in water by sonication and then
self-assembled to form a coating on the surface of silanized silica
fiber when it is in presence. The coating is annealed by oven
heating at T= 250 o C.The SWCNTs assembled on the
surface of the silica fibers have shown low resistance (~10 k
W at room temperature) and weak dependence of the resistance on
temperature (5 times increasing in the temperature range 1.6-300
K). The resistance dependence on temperature can be described by
the following dependence in a wide temperature range
Rµexp(T
-1/2)
The magnetoresistance measurements were conducted
in the fields up to 8 T. The magnetoresistance was found to be
positive at low temperatures 1.6-4K and negative at higher
temperatures. A possible mechanism of electronic transport in the
arrays of multi-wall carbon nanotubes is discussed.