Enhanced field emission from multiwall carbon nanotube films by secondary growth

TL;DR

This study investigates how coatings and secondary nanotube growth on multiwall carbon nanotubes influence their field emission, revealing that secondary nanotubes significantly enhance emission performance.

Contribution

It demonstrates that secondary nanotube growth on coated multiwall carbon nanotubes improves field emission, with detailed analysis of coating effects and nanotube morphology.

Findings

Nickel coatings form homogeneous films and larger contact areas.

Gold coatings form small, sphere-like clusters with minimal contact.

Secondary nanotubes substantially increase field emission performance.

Abstract

We have studied nickel, gold, and ferritin coatings on catalytically grown multiwall carbon nanotubes, as well as the generation of secondary nanotubes by resubmitting the decorated nanotubes to the chemical vapor deposition process. Nickel layers sputtered on nanotubes show a stronger interaction with the nanotube walls than gold coatings. At ambient temperature this results in a metal film that is more homogeneous for Ni than for Au. Surface mass transport at elevated temperatures leads to a transformation of the coating to nanoscale clusters on the nanotube surface. The resulting Au clusters are sphere-like with a very small contact area with the nanotube whereas the Ni clusters are stretched along the tube axis and have a large contact area. Secondary nanotubes were established by growing nanotubes directly on the walls of primary nanotubes. Thin Ni layers or ferritin served as catalyst. We compared the field emission properties of samples with and without secondary nanotubes. The presence of secondary nanotubes enhances the field emission substantially.