In-plane large single-walled carbon nanotube films: In situ synthesis and field-emission properties

The large-area synthesis of 2D single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) suitable for field emission is discussed. CVD system is the introduction of a circular gas-flow stabilizer in the quartz reaction tube, which helps in the formation of an uniform and high quality film on the stainless-steel film collector situated downstream of reaction tube. The absorption spectrum of the film is measured on a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer equipped with a Si detector and CaF2 beam splitter. The SWCNT films become denser and can be easily handled by hand when dried after being subjected to a water or acetone spray. In SWCNT, the carbon atoms can align themselves into ropes held together by van der Waals forces and merge together, trading some sp2 bonds for sp3 bonds. The iron particles in the SWCNT film come from the ferrocene catalyst used and exist in the form of nanoparticles covered by carbon. Reproducible field-emission results suggests that these flexible SWCNT films are highly reliable field-emitters with very low turn-on fields.