Electrical and Photovoltaic Properties of Layered Composite Films of Covalently Bonded Graphene and Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

• Published in: Coatings (Basel) 2020-04, Vol.10 (4), p.324
• Main Authors: Slepchenkov, Michael M., Mitrofanov, Vadim V., Nefedov, Igor S., Glukhova, Olga E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2079-6412; 2079-6412
• DOI: 10.3390/coatings10040324

In this paper, we present the results of a computational study of the electrical and photovoltaic properties of a perspective composite material; that is, layered composite films of covalently bonded graphene and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The purpose of the study is to identify the topological patterns in controlling the electrical and photovoltaic properties of mono- and bilayer graphene/CNT composite films with a covalent bonding of a nanotube and graphene sheet, using in silico methods. This in silico study was carried out for the super-cells of mono- and bilayer graphene/CNT composite films with the CNTs (10,0) and (12,0) at distances between the nanotubes of 10 and 12 hexagons. This found that the type of conductivity of the nanotubes does not fundamentally affect the patterns of current flow in the graphene/CNT composite films. This control of the diameter of the nanotubes and the distance between them allows us to control the profile of the absorption spectrum of the electromagnetic waves in the range of 20–2000 nm. The control of the distance between the SWCNTs allows one to control the absorption intensity without a significant peak shift. This revealed that there is no obvious dependence of the integrated photocurrent on the distance between the nanotubes, and the photocurrent varies between 3%–4%.