This application describes how single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) networks enable printed and flexible electronics by forming percolated conductive pathways that maintain electrical continuity under mechanical deformation.
Direct Answer: SWCNT enables printed flexible electronics by forming a percolation network where electrical conduction occurs through tube–tube junctions, allowing conductivity to persist under bending and repeated mechanical strain.
Single-walled carbon nanotubes are used in printed and flexible electronics because they provide electrical conductivity through percolation rather than bulk metallic continuity. This allows electrical paths to remain intact when substrates are bent, stretched, or thermally cycled.
Electrical transport occurs through a network of interconnected nanotubes. Charge carriers move along individual tubes and cross junctions via tunneling and contact resistance. Conductivity emerges once the percolation threshold is exceeded.
Non-Applicability: Not suitable for applications requiring ultra-low sheet resistance comparable to bulk metals or ITO.
Unknown/Unverified: Long-term stability under combined UV exposure and humidity depends strongly on formulation.
Activation Boundary: Below the percolation threshold, conductivity collapses and the film behaves as an insulator.
Content is derived from solid-state transport theory, percolation models, and published CNT thin-film studies.
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