Integrated Titanium-Carbon Nanotube Conductors via Joule-Heating Driven Chemical Vapor Deposition

• Published in: ECS transactions 2020-06, Vol.97 (7), p.321-327
• Main Authors: McIntyre, Dylan J., Leggiero, Anthony P., Hailstone, Richard K., Puchades, Ivan, Cress, Cory D., Landi, Brian J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1938-5862; 1938-6737
• DOI: 10.1149/09707.0321ecst

Ti is known to exhibit excellent interfacial interaction with CNTs, and enhances the electrical performance for Cu-CNT hybrids. A simple route for depositing Ti to form integrated Ti-CNT bulk conductors is warranted to increase the total metal:CNT interfacial contact area. Herein, Joule-heating driven CVD using a cyclopentadienyl(cycloheptatrienyl) titanium(II) precursor is reported. Successful penetration of Ti throughout a 30 µm-thick CNT network is achieved. Deposition morphology can be tuned from local coatings along CNT bundles to continuous surface films, dependent on starting precursor amount. The Ti coatings are stable on the CNTs upon exposure to temperature of 300 °C for 1 hour in 95% Ar/ 5% H2. Electroplating to form a Cu-Ti-CNT hybrid (97.1%/0.9%/2% wt/wt) achieved a conductivity of 32.3 MS/m with a TCR of 3.18 × 10-3 K-1. The fabrication of integrated Ti-CNT bulk conductors enables a path forward for metal-Ti-CNT designs with improved metal:CNT interfaces for enhanced electrical performance.