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Abstract
Carbon nanotubes are very attractive for a wide range of potential applications. However, many applications require the growth of aligned/micropatterned carbon nanotubes with or without a modified nanotube surface. Simple pyrolytic methods for large scale production of aligned/micropatterned carbon nanotube arrays perpendicular to the substrate surface have been developed. These aligned carbon nanotube arrays can be transferred onto various substrates of particular interest in either a patterned or non-patterned fashion. The perpendicularly-aligned structure provides advantages for not only an efficient device construction but also surface functionalisation (both the inner and outer wall) while their alignment structure can be largely retained. These aligned carbon nanotubes with tunable surface characteristics are of great significance to various practical applications, ranging from plastic optoelectronics to bioceramics. Examples include biomolecule immobilised carbon nanotube biosensors, synthetic polymer supported aligned carbon nanotube chemical vapour sensors, metal nanoparticle decorated carbon nanotubes, and aligned coaxial nanowires of carbon nanotubes sheathed with titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles or thin films. These newly synthesised carbon nanotubes decorated with polymers, metal nanoparticles, and/or TiO2 coatings were demonstrated to show novel optoelectronic properties and should possess good bioactive behaviours with enhanced tissue attachment attractive for functional optoelectronic and bioceramic applications. This article reviews recent work carried out in the authors group on the preparation of nanocomposites based on aligned carbon nanotubes functionalised with polymers or metal (oxide) nanoparticles. Their potential applications as plastic optoelectronics and bioceramics will also be discussed.