Enhanced electrical conductivity in solution processed carbon nanotubes incorporated As 2 S 3 glass films

The present paper deals with the synthesis and characterization of solution processed pure and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) incorporated As 2 S 3 glass films. As 2 S 3 glass has been synthesized using melt quenching technique. The solutions of pure and MWCNTs containing As 2 S 3 glass have been prepared in n -butylamine under inert atmosphere. These solutions have been used to obtain pure and MWCNTs incorporated As 2 S 3 glass films on the glass substrates via spin coating. These films have been annealed, subsequently, to get rid of organic solvent. The morphologies of these films have been analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) which reveals the porous nature of these films. In the SEM micrographs, a very few MWCNTs are seen on the surface of the films and it is argued that most of the MWCNTs are buried in the film. Elemental and crystallographic analyses of these films have been carried out using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) respectively. While EDS studies confirms the elemental composition of these films, XRD patterns depicts the amorphous nature of these films. Raman and Fourier transform spectroscopies have also been carried out and revealed some critical information regarding these films. Raman spectroscopy of these films indicates towards the functionalization of MWCNTs by intermediate active species which formed during annealing. dc-conductivity measurements and its analysis show that the dc-conductivity and carrier concentration of these films increases drastically with the increase in MWCNTs content in these films. The results obtained in this work may be useful for the chalcogenide glasses based electronic and optoelectronic applications such as energy harvesting and storage, photovoltaics and flexible electronics.