Freestanding, bendable thin film for supercapacitors using DNA-dispersed double walled carbon nanotubes

Freestanding, thin, and bendable electrodes for supercapacitors are fabricated by filtering DNA-dispersed double walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) into a thin film and thermally treating the film in argon. We found that DNA has the ability to disperse the strongly bundled DWNTs and is converted to phosphorus-enriched carbons, which give rise to strong redox peaks at around 0.4 V. The combination of the large capacitance from the DNA-derived carbons and the high electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes allow DWNT/DNA films to be used as a potential electrode material for supercapacitors. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3271768]