PREPARATION OF TRANSPARENT CONDUCTIVE THIN FILMS THROUGH POLYMERIZATION OF METHYL METHACRYLATE ONTO ELECTROPHORETICALLY DEPOSITED CARBON NANOTUBE SHEETS Silvia Bittolo Bon, Luca Valentini, Francesco Mengoni, Josè Kenny Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University of Perugia, NIPLAB – INSTM Research Unit, Terni – Italy Poster PD10

DISPERSION ACHIEVEMENT C-SWNTs from CH 3 CN (good nanotube dispersant) SWNTs from CH 3 CN (hardly dissolved) Sonication+Centrifugation SWNTs Stable dark suspension Sonication+Centrifugation Unsoluble in this solvent The nanotubes were deposited onto Fluorine Doped Tin Oxide (FTO) (surface resistance 14  /sq) that was kept parallel to an opposite gold electrode. A dc voltage of +6 V was applied to the FTO work electrode maintaining the gold plate at ground; the deposition of carbon nanotubes films of varying thickness was observed on the positive electrode. See article review of A. R. Boccaccini et al. Carbon 44 (2006) 3149–3160

Electrodeposited CNTs as template for the preparation of transparent conductive thin films by in situ polymerization of MMA

These structures precisely retain the nanotube original shape and size inside the resulting composite matrix, even after the polymerization process and the subsequent peeling off from the substrate. The resulting PMMA is found to coat the SWCNTs as observed from an high-resolution SEM image of composites.

C-SWCNTs/PMMA PMMA C-SWCNTs There is a relevant difference between the moduli of the PMMA and carboxy- SWCNTs/PMMA while for the nanotube reinforced composite the hardness increases ≈ 2 times in comparison to the PMMA.

CONCLUDING REMARKS CONCLUDING REMARKS We have demonstrated that SWCNTs can be electrodeposited to form a new type of functional nanostructure. The excellent conducting behaviour of the nanocomposite are envisaged to make it very useful for the development of electronic micro- devices for practical applications. We report an easy route toward the development of transparent conductive nanotube-polymer thin films made by infiltration of monomer and subsequent polymerization into a nanotube film electrophoretically deposited.