Extreme Oxygen Sensitivity of Electronic Properties of Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

The electronic properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes are shown here to be extremely sensitive to the chemical environment. Exposure to air or oxygen dramatically influences the nanotubes' electrical resistance, thermoelectric power, and local density of states, as determined by transport measurements and scanning tunneling spectroscopy. These electronic parameters can be reversibly “tuned” by surprisingly small concentrations of adsorbed gases, and an apparently semiconducting nanotube can be converted into an apparent metal through such exposure. These results, although demonstrating that nanotubes could find use as sensitive chemical gas sensors, likewise indicate that many supposedly intrinsic properties measured on as-prepared nanotubes may be severely compromised by extrinsic air exposure effects.

Keywords

Carbon nanotubeMaterials scienceNanotubeOxygenNanotechnologyChemical physicsAdsorptionSeebeck coefficientQuantum tunnellingX-ray photoelectron spectroscopyChemical engineeringOptoelectronicsChemistryPhysical chemistryComposite material

Affiliated Institutions

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory US

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Publication Info

Year: 2000
Type: article
Volume: 287
Issue: 5459
Pages: 1801-1804
Citations: 2928
Access: Closed

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APA Style

                            
                                
                                    Philip G. Collins, 
                                
                                    Keith Bradley, 
                                
                                    Masa Ishigami
                                
                                et al.
                            
                            (2000). 
                            Extreme Oxygen Sensitivity of Electronic Properties of Carbon Nanotubes. 
                            Science
                            , 287
                            (5459)
                            , 1801-1804.
                            https://doi.org/10.1126/science.287.5459.1801
                        

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1126/science.287.5459.1801