Simultaneous Dielectrophoretic Separation and Assembly of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on Multigap Nanoelectrodes and Their Thermal Sensing Properties

• Published in: Analytical chemistry (Washington) Vol. 78; no. 23; pp. 8069 - 8075
• Main Authors: Chen, Zhuo, Wu, Zhongyun, Tong, Lianming, Pan, Huapu, Liu, Zhongfan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01.12.2006
• Subjects: Analytical chemistry; Chemistry; Chromatographic methods and physical methods associated with chromatography; Exact sciences and technology; Other chromatographic methods; Electrodes; Performance evaluation; Carbon nanotubes; Sensitivity; Electric field; Dielectrophoresis
• ISSN: 0003-2700; 1520-6882
• DOI: 10.1021/ac0614487

By using the specifically designed multigap nanoelectrodes, we demonstrated an effective approach for the simultaneous dielectrophoretic separation and assembly of metallic and semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). An approximate metallic−semiconducting−metallic multiarray structure was created by an inward-propagative sequential assembly of SWNTs under ac electric field. Such kinds of SWNT multiarray structures exhibited ultra-low-power consumption and excellent thermal sensing performances with the sensitivity being dependent on the number of gaps:  the more gaps, the higher sensitivity. The effective separation of metallic and semiconducting tubes in different gaps is believed to be responsible for the improved sensitivity to temperature.