Researchers from Skoltech and their colleagues have found an ingenious solution to this problem, publishing their findings in the journal Light: Advanced Manufacturing.
«The key insight comes from aerosol science: carbon nanotubes are so light that their inertia is negligible — they just follow the carrier gas. By pairing that principle with a nitrocellulose membrane pressed with a hot laser stencil, we closed off the pores we don't need. In effect, we let the gas flow itself draw the pattern, depositing nanotubes only where they belong. Nothing is etched away, and the template is fully reusable,» commented one of the study's authors, RAS Professor Albert Nasibulin, who heads the Skoltech Photonics Center.
Thanks to this method, the team managed to completely avoid toxic solvents and preserve the high quality of the material.
«The new method is highly scalable, opening up promising possibilities in optics, electronics, and sensorics,» emphasized Nikita Raginov, a Skoltech research intern and the lead author of the study.
To demonstrate the versatility of the approach, the research team created devices of two distinct classes. The first is a mechanical strain sensor in a W-shape. Its sensitivity proved to be at least three times greater than analogs, and tests over 3,000 load-unload cycles proved its absolute reliability. Such sensors can be embedded anywhere from bridge pillars to aircraft wings. The second device is a stretchable lens for manipulating terahertz radiation, which is critically important for future 6G networks.
Beyond terahertz optics and high-performance strain sensors, the researchers foresee potential applications in transparent conductors, bioelectrodes, thermoelectric modules, and heating grids.
The structured carbon nanotube samples described in the press release were modeled at ITMO University and the Harbin Institute of Technology, manufactured at Skoltech, and tested at MIPT and the Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the RAS.
Skoltech is a VEB.RF group institution.