Experimental study on the field emission properties of metal oxide nanoparticle-decorated graphene

In the present study, electron field emission efficiency of metal oxide nanoparticle-decorated graphene has been investigated. Tin oxide and zinc oxide nanoparticle-decorated hydrogen exfoliated graphene (SnO2/HEG and ZnO/HEG) have been synthesized by chemical reduction and sol-gel techniques, respectively. The samples have been characterized by x ray diffraction, thermo-gravimetric analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and electron microscopy techniques. SnO2/HEG and ZnO/HEG-based field emitters have been fabricated by dispersing them in a suitable solvent, followed by spin coating onto a carbon cloth. The field emission measurement of these vacuum-dried thin films has been carried out under a vacuum of 10(-6) mbar, as has their long-term stability. The obtained turn-on voltage for ZnO/HEG and SnO2/HEG is around 0.88 and 0.93 V/mu m with field enhancement factors of 6535 and 6367, respectively. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3681376]