Abstract
The relationship between the physical structure of carbon nanotube (CNT) honeycomb structures and their total, diffuse, and specular reflectance is investigated for the first time. It is found that CNT honeycomb structures with average cell areas of smaller than 30 μm2 show a higher total reflectance. Particularly, a thinner, highly packed CNT (buckypaper) film, along with a larger wall height and higher ratio of wall height to cell area, markedly increase the total reflectance for cell areas smaller than 30 μm2, which means that a higher total area of buckypapers in CNT walls and bottom areas increases the total reflectance, including the diffuse reflectance. It is also found that the total reflection of non-absorbed light in CNT honeycomb structures consists primarily of diffuse reflectance.
Highlights
The unique morphologies and structures of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have received much attention for optical and electronic applications because CNTs have extraordinary photonic properties, high electrical current endurability, and mechanical stiffness [1,2,3,4]
field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) images and cell area histograms for honeycomb CNT samples S1, S2, S3, and S4 with average cell areas of 19, 34, 51, and 97 μm2 are shown in Figure 1b–f, respectively
This study investigated the controlling of cell area in a CNT honeycomb structure by a simple method of ethanol treatment, in which the average cell area could be decreased by a shorter evaporation time of ethanol
Summary
The unique morphologies and structures of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have received much attention for optical and electronic applications because CNTs have extraordinary photonic properties, high electrical current endurability, and mechanical stiffness [1,2,3,4]. The morphologies of CNT forests can be modified to enhance charge generation, separation, and transport in optical-electronic applications [5]. The liquid treatment of CNTs exhibits self-assembly, where one-dimensional material forms into three-dimensional micro or macro structures with various morphologies [5]. Previous papers have reported that the liquid and vapor treatment onto multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) exhibits the self-assembly of hierarchical networks to form honeycomb structures due to capillary forces arising during solution evaporation [7,8,9,10]. The larger surface area of such honeycomb structures is expected to allow the efficient assembly of sensitized nanoparticles of quantum dots (QDs), which can serve as an electrode scaffold to capture and transport photo-generated electrons in solar cells [11]. Wall-shaped condensed CNT films can serve as an “electron-carrying highway”, enhancing high conductivity to an electrode of solar cells [5]
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