B A Samuel et al 2008 Nanotechnology 19 275702 doi:10.1088/0957-4484/19/27/275702
B A Samuel1, R Rajagopalan2, H C Foley2 and M A Haque1,3
Show affiliationsIn this paper we report on the effect of temperature on the electrical conductivity of amorphous and nanoporous (pores size around 0.5 nm) carbon nanowires. Poly(furfuryl alcohol) nanowires with diameter varying from 150 to 250 nm were synthesized by a template-based technique and upon pyrolysis yielded amorphous carbon nanowires with nanosized pores in them. We observed significant (as high as 700%) decrease in electrical resistance when the nanowire surface temperature was increased from room temperature to 160 °C. On the basis of the experimental and microscopy evidence, we infer a thermally activated carrier transport mechanism to be the primary electrical transport mechanism, at elevated temperatures, in these semiconducting, amorphous, and nanoporous carbon nanowires.
73.63.-b Electronic transport in nanoscale materials and structures
61.43.Gt Powders, porous materials
73.50.Gr Charge carriers: generation, recombination, lifetime, trapping, mean free paths
68.37.Lp Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
68.37.Hk Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (including EBIC)
Surfaces, interfaces and thin films
Issue 27 (9 July 2008)
Received 1 February 2008, in final form 2 May 2008
Published 28 May 2008
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