High-quality single-walled carbon nanotubes synthesized by catalytic decomposition of xylene over Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst and their field emission properties

Abstract

High-quality single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were synthesized over Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst by catalytic decomposition of xylene. The synthesized carbon material revealed bundled SWCNTs with few defects and amorphous carbon and revealed that the SWCNTs having diameters of about 0.84-1.60 nm dominated in the product. The product yield of the high-quality SWCNTs was about 63 wt % relative to the weight of the catalyst. The SWCNTs showed the low turn-on field 1.0 V/,mu m at a current density of 10-8 A/cm(2) and the high emission current density of 2.0 mA/cm(2) at an applied field of about 3.0 V/mu m. The lifetime measurement of SWCNT emitter revealed good emission stability for 20 h during constant DC applied bias. It is considered that the SWCNTs produced by xylene can be used as effective field emitters.