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Ultrafast Charge Separation at a Single-walled Carbon Nanotube – Polymer Interface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2011

Samuel D. Stranks
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, U.K.
Christian Weisspfennig
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, U.K.
Patrick Parkinson
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, U.K.
Michael B. Johnston
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, U.K.
Laura M. Herz
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, U.K.
Robin J. Nicholas*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, U.K.
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Abstract

We report the observation of an ultrafast (~ 430 fs) charge transfer process at the interface between a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) wrapped by a semi-conducting polymer, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), creating free polarons on both materials. The addition of excess P3HT as a surrounding network allows these free polarons to be long-lived at room temperature. Our results suggest that SWNT-P3HT blends incorporating only 1% fractions of SWNTs can achieve a charge separation efficiency comparable to a conventional 60:40 P3HT-fullerene blend, provided small-diameter tubes are embedded in an excess P3HT matrix.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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