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Controllable fabrication and electromechanical characterization of electrophoresis assembled single-walled carbon nanotube-polymer film transducers

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Abstract

This paper presents a controllable electrophoresis allowing a directed deposition of negatively charged single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) on an electro-active polymer to fabricate thin-film transducers under an electric field excitation. The assembled high-density SWNT networks are verified with SEM micrograph and Raman spectroscopy, and the electric filed-induced mechanism for electrophoresis of SWNT is investigated using electrochemical analysis technique. The dynamic electromechanical properties are characterized by a combinative approach of piezoelectric excitation and laser vibrometer measurement. A remarkable performance enhancement and tunability for such thin-film transducers in both resonant frequency and quality factor is demonstrated, compared with pure polymer. This observed enhancement can not only be exploited to tailor the thin-film transducers for desired electromechanical properties, but also create versatile pathways for variety of applications including polymeric electronic technologies.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by the Minnesota Partnership Program and the Promotive Research Foundation for the Excellent Middle-Aged and Youth Scientists of Shandong Province of China (No. BS2012DX044), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (No. 12CX04065A). We also acknowledge the Characterization Facility at the University of Minnesota. In particular, we thank Dr. Peng Li for the valuable discussion and help on the SEM characterization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, 111 Church Street S.E., Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Dongzhi Zhang & Tianhong Cui

  2. College of Information and Control Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, 266580, China

    Dongzhi Zhang

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  1. Dongzhi Zhang
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  2. Tianhong Cui
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Correspondence to Tianhong Cui.

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Zhang, D., Cui, T. Controllable fabrication and electromechanical characterization of electrophoresis assembled single-walled carbon nanotube-polymer film transducers. Microsyst Technol 19, 1041–1047 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-012-1697-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-012-1697-4

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