Effect of baking, humidity and UV radiation on hexagonal boron nitride modified c-MWCNT nanohybrid electrodes

Abstract

Electrically conducting nanohybrids (NHs) of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) with carboxylic functional multiwalled carbon nanotubes (c-MWCNT) have shown growing interest as electrode materials in microelectronics. This has been due to their ability to serve as potential electrically conducting materialsunder harsh environmental conditions of temperature, humidity and radiations. Present investigation demonstrates the development and characterisation of working electrodes (WEs) derived by coating of NHs and polyvinyl butyryl suspension in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) over stainless steel current collector. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and thermogravimetric analysis in air were used to examine the surface morphology and thermal stability of NHs. Effect of baking time (BT), humidity exposure (HE) and photo aging (PA) on functionality and performance of WEs has been investigated. The DC conductivity (σDC) of WEs increased somewhat with BT, reaching 0.97 upto 3 hr. Increasing BT to 6.0 hr resulted in a slight fall in the σDC of WEs to 0.94, which thereafter remained static at 0.92 at 9.0 hr. Under UV exposure for 3 hr, the σDC of WEs reached to 1.12. The σDC of WEs has been reduced to 0.99 after further 6 hr of irradiation and later it has reached to 0.98 after 9 hr of irradiation of WEs. The σDC of NHs under HE conditions was found in increasing order ranging from 0.96 to 1.14 for 0 to 3 hr and further marginal reduction from 1.11 to 1.10 for 6 to 9 hr.