Field emission of ribonucleic acid-carbon nanotube films prepared by electrophoretic deposition

Carbon nanotube (CNT) films are fabricated on indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrates by combining electrophoresis with photolithography using ribonucleic acid (RNA)-CNT hybrids as functionalized CNTs and their emission properties are investigated. The CNTs are well-dispersed by wrapping them with RNA and well-defined RNA-CNT patterns are obtained on the ITO glass substrate. The RNA-CNT films show good field emission properties, such as high current densities, low turn-on fields, and uniform emission images. The RNA-CNT hybrids compare favorably to other functionalized CNTs for use in the electrophoretic deposition. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.