New confinement method for the formation of highly aligned and densely packed single-walled carbon nanotube monolayers

Nano-Bioelectronics

Nano-bioelectronics represents a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field that combines nanomaterials with biology and electronics and, in so doing, offers the potential to overcome existing challenges in bioelectronics. In particular, shrinking electronic transducer dimensions to the nanoscale and making their properties appear more biological can yield significant improvements in the sensitivity and biocompatibility and thereby open up opportunities in fundamental biology and healthcare. This review emphasizes recent advances in nano-bioelectronics enabled with semiconductor nanostructures, including silicon nanowires, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. First, the synthesis and electrical properties of these nanomaterials are discussed in the context of bioelectronics. Second, affinity-based nano-bioelectronic sensors for highly sensitive analysis of biomolecules are reviewed. In these studies, semiconductor nanostructures as transistor-based biosensors are discussed from fundamental device behavior through sensing applications and future challenges. Third, the complex interface between nanoelectronics and living biological systems, from single cells to live animals, is reviewed. This discussion focuses on representative advances in electrophysiology enabled using semiconductor nanostructures and their nanoelectronic devices for cellular measurements through emerging work where arrays of nanoelectronic devices are incorporated within three-dimensional cell networks that define synthetic and natural tissues. Last, some challenges and exciting future opportunities are discussed.

Versatile Wafer-Scale Technique for the Formation of Ultrasmooth and Thickness-Controlled Graphene Oxide Films Based on Very Large Flakes

We present a new strategy to form thickness-adjusted and ultrasmooth films of very large and unwrinkled graphene oxide (GO) flakes through the transfer of both hemispherical and vertical water films stabilized by surfactants. With its versatility in terms of substrate type (including flexible organic substrates) and in terms of flake density (from isolated flakes to continuous and multilayer films), this wafer-scale assembly technique is adapted to a broad range of experiments involving GO and rGO (reduced graphene oxide). We illustrate its use through the evaluation of transparent rGO electrodes.

High-performance partially aligned semiconductive single-walled carbon nanotube transistors achieved with a parallel technique

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are widely thought to be a strong contender for next-generation printed electronic transistor materials. However, large-scale solution-based parallel assembly of SWNTs to obtain high-performance transistor devices is challenging. SWNTs have anisotropic properties and, although partial alignment of the nanotubes has been theoretically predicted to achieve optimum transistor device performance, thus far no parallel solution-based technique can achieve this. Herein a novel solution-based technique, the immersion-cum-shake method, is reported to achieve partially aligned SWNT networks using semiconductive (99% enriched) SWNTs (s-SWNTs). By immersing an aminosilane-treated wafer into a solution of nanotubes placed on a rotary shaker, the repetitive flow of the nanotube solution over the wafer surface during the deposition process orients the nanotubes toward the fluid flow direction. By adjusting the nanotube concentration in the solution, the nanotube density of the partially aligned network can be controlled; linear densities ranging from 5 to 45 SWNTs/μm are observed. Through control of the linear SWNT density and channel length, the optimum SWNT-based field-effect transistor devices achieve outstanding performance metrics (with an on/off ratio of ~3.2 × 10(4) and mobility 46.5 cm(2) /Vs). Atomic force microscopy shows that the partial alignment is uniform over an area of 20 × 20 mm(2) and confirms that the orientation of the nanotubes is mostly along the fluid flow direction, with a narrow orientation scatter characterized by a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of <15° for all but the densest film, which is 35°. This parallel process is large-scale applicable and exploits the anisotropic properties of the SWNTs, presenting a viable path forward for industrial adoption of SWNTs in printed, flexible, and large-area electronics.

Role of substrate wettability in the "bubble deposition method" applied to the CeVO4 nanowire films

Homogeneous two-dimensional structures of CeVO(4) nanowires (NWs) deposited on silicon substrates are obtained by means of the bubble deposition method (BDM). Surface wettability (i.e., surface energy) and film ripening (i.e., film thickness) are two major parameters in nanoparticle confinement and deposition. As the presence of surfactant could be detrimental to applications, a washing treatment is developed without CeVO(4) chemical changes or NW film modifications. Careful investigations of the film topography are carried out by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to check the chemical composition of the film at different stages. Finally, samples made by BDM are compared to those made by dip-coating method, demonstrating the higher efficiency of the BDM in providing large areas of well-organized and dense CeVO(4) monolayer.

Ultrahigh density alignment of carbon nanotube arrays by dielectrophoresis

We report ultrahigh density assembly of aligned single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) two-dimensional arrays via AC dielectrophoresis using high-quality surfactant-free and stable SWNT solutions. After optimization of frequency and trapping time, we can reproducibly control the linear density of the SWNT between prefabricated electrodes from 0.5 SWNT/μm to more than 30 SWNT/μm by tuning the concentration of the nanotubes in the solution. Our maximum density of 30 SWNT/μm is the highest for aligned arrays via any solution processing technique reported so far. Further increase of SWNT concentration results in a dense array with multiple layers. We discuss how the orientation and density of the nanotubes vary with concentrations and channel lengths. Electrical measurement data show that the densely packed aligned arrays have low sheet resistances. Selective removal of metallic SWNTs via controlled electrical breakdown produced field-effect transistors with high current on-off ratio. Ultrahigh density alignment reported here will have important implications in fabricating high-quality devices for digital and analog electronics.

Two-dimensional self-assemblies of silica nanoparticles formed using the "bubble deposition technique"

Two-dimensional silica nanoparticle assemblies were obtained by deposition of bubble made from a surfactant solution containing nanoparticles onto hydrophobic silicon substrate. The morphologies of the nanoparticle assemblies can be finely controlled by several experimental parameters, including surfactant concentration, nanoparticle concentration, and deposition time. Monolayer of nanoparticles with surface coverage of about 100% can be obtained under appropriate conditions. The method can also be applied to another hydrophobic substrate, HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane)-modified silicon substrate. Furthermore, it can be applied directly to lithography patterned substrates, meaning a high compatibility with the well-developed conventional top-down approaches to nanodevices. This bubble deposition technique is expected to be a promising method in the field of nano-object assembly and organization and has great application potentials.