US Patent 7282742 - Conjugated polymer crosslinking using CNTs

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Conjugated polymers have semiconducting properties and which may be used in a variety of applications such as flexible film/printable photovoltaics for which solid state electronics is not applicable. However, the lower electron mobility of conjugated polymers make them an inferior material than silicon based devices. This patent from Toray Industries teaches the use of small percentages of carbon nanotubes which facilitate cross linking of the conjugated polymer to increase the electron mobility without interfering with the semiconductor properties. Claim 1 reads:

1. An organic semiconductor material comprising carbon nanotubes and a conjugated polymer, wherein the carbon nanotubes are dispersed in the conjugated polymer, the weight fraction of the carbon nanotubes is 3 percent or less relative to the conjugated polymer, and the conjugated polymer comprises a straight-chain conjugated polymer.