Effects of ionic surfactant adsorption on single-walled carbon nanotube thin film devices in aqueous solutions

Field-effect transistors were fabricated using high-density single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) thin films directly grown on suitable substrates. Such approach eliminated the variations of device behaviors in individual SWNT devices by utilizing a large number of SWNTs in each device. We have found that the behaviors of such devices are closely related to the surface charge densities around SWNTs in aqueous solutions. Adsorption of ionic surfactants on the surface could significantly modulate the device characteristics, which could be detected by measuring the conductance of the devices. The devices could be tuned to be sensitive to either anionic or cationic surfactants by tailoring the surface properties of SiO ₂ substrates around SWNTs. This effect could be potentially used to design chemical and biological sensors.