Electrochemical responses of carbon nanotubes-based films printed on polymer substances

The electrochemical responses of novel thin films, which consist of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) printed on polymer substrates, were investigated towards ferrocyanide/ferricyanide, [Fe(CN)6]3−/4− redox couple in aqueous potassium chloride solutions. With this respect, MWCNT-based films were fabricated through transfer of water-dispersed MWCNTs onto the polymer substances polyethylene terephthalate (MWCNT-PET) and polycarbonate (MWCNT-PC) by means of mass flexographic printing process. For the electrochemical studies, the techniques of cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were employed. The findings reveal that the MWCNT-PC films exhibit better stability in solution, less oxidation overpotential, greater oxidation current density, and larger capacitance compared to MWCNT-PET films. In addition, the MWCNT-PC films provide fewer barriers for electron transfer process and faster electrode kinetics compared to MWCNT-PET films. The results are very promising and open the possibility of using mass-printing techniques for the construction of printed MWCNT-polymer films for electrochemical applications.