Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene for Electronics Applications 2010-2020

Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs), graphene and their compounds exhibit extraordinary electrical properties for organic materials, and have a huge potential in electrical and electronic applications such as photovoltaics, sensors, semiconductor devices, displays, conductors, smart textiles and energy conversion devices (e.g., fuel cells, harvesters and batteries). This updated report brings all of this together, covering the latest work from 100 organizations around the world to details of the latest progress applying the technologies. New developments, challenges and opportunities regarding material production and applications are given.

 

Applications of Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene for electronics applications

Depending on their chemical structure, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be used as an alternative to organic or inorganic semiconductors as well as conductors, but the cost is currently the greatest restraint. However, that has the ability to rapidly fall as new, cheaper mass production processes are established, which we cover in this report. In electronics, other than electromagnetic shielding, one of the first large applications for CNTs will be conductors. In addition to their high conductance, they can be transparent, flexible and even stretchable. Here, applications are for displays, replacing ITO; touch screens, photovoltaics and display bus bars and beyond.

 

In addition, interest is high as CNTs have demonstrated mobilities which are magnitudes higher than silicon, meaning that fast switching transistors can be fabricated. In addition, CNTs can be solution processed, i.e. printed. In other words, CNTs will be able to provide high performing devices which can ultimately be made in low cost manufacturing processes such as printing, over large areas. They have application to supercapacitors, which bridge the gap between batteries and capacitors, leveraging the energy density of batteries with the power density of capacitors and transistors.

 

Challenges are material purity, device fabrication, and the need for other device materials such as suitable dielectrics. However, the opportunity is large, given the high performance, flexibility, transparency and printability. Companies that IDTechEx surveyed report growth rates as high as 300% over the next five years. New developments regarding the production of pure CNTs and the separation of conducting and semiconducting carbon nanotubes are given in this updated report.

 

Graphene, a cheap organic material, is being enhanced by companies that are increasing its conductivity, to be used in some applications as a significantly cheaper printed conductor compared to silver ink. Graphene and its compounds are increasingly used to make transistors that show extremely good performance - a progress that comes with new cheaper production processes for the raw material. All this work is covered in this updated report from IDTechEx.

IDTechEx has researched 100 companies and academic institutions working on carbon nanotubes, graphene and their compounds, all profiled in the report. While manufacturers in North America focus more on single wall CNTs (SWCNTs); Asia and Europe, with Japan on top and China second, are leading the production of multi wall CNTS (MWCNTs) with Showa Denko, Mitsui and Hodogaya Chemical being among the largest suppliers.

 

A number of companies are already selling CNTs with metallic and semiconducting properties grown by several techniques in a commercial scale but mostly as raw material and in limited quantities. However, printable CNT inks are beginning to hit the market. The last year has shown further development regarding cheap production, purification and separation of conducting and semiconducting nanotubes. However, the selective and uniform production of CNTs with specific diameter, length and electrical properties is yet to be achieved in commercial scale.

There are still some hurdles to overcome when using printing for the fabrication of thin carbon nanotube films. There is relatively poor quality of the nanotube starting material, which mostly shows a low crystallinity, low purity and high bundling. Subsequently, purifying the raw material without significantly degrading the quality is difficult. Furthermore there is also the issue to achieve good dispersions in solution and to remove the deployed surfactants from the deposited films. Nevertheless, especially research institutes and material suppliers are working to solve the biggest issues in short time. The latest work by company is featured in the report.

This concise and unique updated report from IDTechEx gives an in-depth review to the applications, technologies, emerging solutions and players. It addresses specific topics such as:

 

 

For those involved in making or using carbon nanotubes, or those developing displays, photovoltaics, transistors, energy storage devices and conductors and want to learn about how they can benefit from this technology, this is a must-read report.

The report price also includes free access to the electronic version of the IDTechEx Encyclopedia of Printed Electronics with over 380 definitions and 30 illustrations. This 110 page report is normally sold for $1500. In addition, all report purchases include one hour free consulting with a report author from IDTechEx, by email or telephone. This needs to be used within 3 months of purchasing the report.

If you have any questions about this report, please do not hesitate to contact Raoul Escobar-Franco or call +1 617 577 7890 (US).