Facile Fabrication and Field Emission of Metal-Particle-Decorated Vertical N-Doped Carbon Nanotube/Graphene Hybrid Films

In this study, vertical N-doped carbon nanotube (VNCNT) arrays were decorated with Au, Ru, or Mn nanoparticles, and the effects of the particles on the field-emission properties were investigated. Uniform catalyst nanoparticles were prepared by block copolymer lithography on a graphene film, and the VNCNT arrays were grown from the nanopatterned catalyst particles by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The surfaces of the VNCNT arrays were subsequently decorated with metal particles, and the vertical alignment of the NCNT arrays was maintained by high-vacuum annealing. The field-emission properties of the metal-particle-decorated VNCNT arrays varied according to the changes in the work-function values, with the Mn-VNCNT field emitter showing the best performance among the emitters tested. Our results revealed that the field-emission properties of VNCNT arrays may be tuned by decoration with metal particles and that particle decoration with a low-work-function material may be used to develop efficient field emitters.