TY - JOUR A1 - Scarselli, Manuela A1 - Castrucci, Paola A1 - De Nicola, Francesco A1 - Cacciotti, Ilaria A1 - Nanni, Francesca A1 - Gatto, Emanuela A1 - Venanzi, Mariano A1 - De Crescenzi, Maurizio T1 - Applications of three-dimensional carbon nanotube networks JF - Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology PY - 2015/// VL - 6 SP - 792 EP - 798 SN - 2190-4286 DO - 10.3762/bjnano.6.82 PB - Beilstein-Institut JA - Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. UR - https://doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.6.82 KW - carbon nanotube sponge KW - electrochemical KW - hydrophobicity KW - lipophilicity N2 - In this paper, we show that it is possible to synthesize carbon-based three-dimensional networks by adding sulfur, as growth enhancer, during the synthesis process. The obtained material is self-supporting and consists of curved and interconnected carbon nanotubes and to lesser extent of carbon fibers. Studies on the microstructure indicate that the assembly presents a marked variability in the tube external diameter and in the inner structure. We study the relationship between the observed microscopic properties and some potential applications. In particular, we show that the porous nature of the network is directly responsible for the hydrophobic and the lipophilic behavior. Moreover, we used a cut piece of the produced carbon material as working electrode in a standard electrochemical cell and, thus, demonstrating the capability of the system to respond to incident light in the visible and near-ultraviolet region and to generate a photocurrent. ER -