Au– carbon nanotube composites from self- reduction of Au 3+ upon poly(ethylene imine) functionalized SWNT thin films

The combination of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with metal nanoparticles has been an area of recent interest due to the attractive electronic, mechanical, catalytic, and photonic properties of such materials. Although complexes of SWNTs and nanoparticles are known, macroscopic samples in which nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed in high density throughout the nanotube substrate have not been reported. Here, a simple method for the …