Electrical Characteristics of Carbon Nanotubes by Plasma and Microwave Surface Treatments

The plasma and microwave surface treatments of carbon nanotubes that loaded on plastic substrates were carried out with expecting a change of carbon nanotube dispersion by increasing treatment time. The microwave treatment process was undergone by commercial microwave oven (800 W). The electrical property was measured by hall measurement and resistance was increased by increasing O-2 flow rate of plasma, suggesting an improvement of carbon nanotube dispersion and a possibility of controlling the resistances of carbon nanotubes by plasma surface treatment. The resistance was increased in both polyethylene terephthalate and polyimide substrates by increasing O-2 flow rate. Resistance changes only slightly with different O-2 flow treatment in measure rho for all polyimide samples. Sheet resistance is lowest in polyimide substrate not due to high carbon nanotube loading but due to tendency to remain in elongated structure. O-2 or N-2 plasma treatments on both polyethylene terephthalate and polyimide substrates lead to increase in sheet resistance.