Development of novel carbon nanotube/photopolymer nanocomposites with high conductivity and their application to nanoimprint photolithography

The fabrication of CNT/polymer composites by in-situ solvent-free photo-polymerization using a UV-curable monomer and the structural and electrical properties of the films obtained by UV curing of the composites was described. The fabrication of submicrometer-ordered two-dimensional patterns by employing the nanoimprint photolithography technique was also described. Photopolymerization results in a decrease in the intensity of absorption bands, indicating that the polymerization reaction occurs in the presence of the SWNTs. It is also seen that the polymer films consist of a mixture of isolated and small-bundled SWNTs, similar to surfactant-assisted dispersion of SWNTs. The sizes of the aggregates is found to be 200-300 nm, which is in good agreement with the result of the absence of visible macroscopic-sized aggregates in the nanocompaoites.