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Carbon‐Nanotube–Polymer Nanocomposites for Field‐Emission Cathodes
Author(s) -
Connolly Thomas,
Smith Richard C.,
Hernandez Yenny,
Gun'ko Yurii,
Coleman Jonathan N.,
Carey J. David
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.200801094
Subject(s) - carbon nanotube , materials science , nanocomposite , cathode , nanotube , composite number , polymer , field electron emission , composite material , polymer nanocomposite , nanotechnology , volume fraction , electron , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
The electron field‐emission (FE) characteristics of functionalized single‐walled carbon‐nanotube (CNT)–polymer composites produced by solution processing are reported. It is shown that excellent electron emission can be obtained by using as little as 0.7% volume fraction of nanotubes in the composite. Furthermore by tailoring the nanotube concentration and type of polymer, improvements in the charge transfer through the composite can be obtained. The synthesis of well‐dispersed randomly oriented nanotube–polymer composites by solution processing allows the development of CNT‐based large area cathodes produced using a scalable technology. The relative insensitivity of the cathode's FE characteristics to the electrical conductivity of the composite is also discussed.