US Patent 8211320 - Transferring carbon nanotubes to a flexible substrate

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8211320.html

Carbon nanotubes are most commonly grown on silicon substrates using a CVD method but in some applications it is desirable to pattern the nanotubes on a flexible polymer substrate (e.g. flexible displays, photovoltaics, wide area sensors). This patent from Foxconn teaches one method of transferring carbon nanotubes from a rigid silicon substrate to a flexible substrate. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for making a carbon nanotube device, comprising:

providing a rigid substrate with a plurality of carbon nanotube arrays grown thereon, the carbon nanotube arrays arranged in a predetermined pattern;

providing a flexible substrate with a plurality of recesses defined therein;

applying a curable adhesive in each recess; attaching the rigid substrate to the flexible substrate with the plurality of carbon nanotube arrays in contact with the curable adhesives;

curing the curable adhesives to fix the carbon nanotube arrays in the recesses; and

removing the rigid substrate, thereby obtaining the carbon nanotube device.