Multicomponent interposed carbon nanotube micropatterns by region-specific contact transfer and self-assembling

In our further investigation on the microfabrication of carbon nanotubes, we found that micropatterns of perpendicularly aligned carbon nanotubes can be prepared by simply pressing an adhesively sticky tape (e.g., Scotch tape) prepatterned with a nonadhesive layer onto a nonpatterned aligned carbon nanotube film, followed by peeling off the sticky tape from the quartz substrate in a dry state. In conjunction with the region-specific surface modification, this dry contact transfer method has enabled us to produce multicomponent carbon nanotube micropatterns in which different components are interposed in an intimate fashion, as exemplified by the newly produced micropatterns with self-assembled nonaligned carbon nanotubes interdispersed into the discrete areas in the patterned structure of aligned carbon nanotubes.