Field Emission Characteristics of Double-walled Carbon Nanotubes Related with Hydrochloric Acid Treatment

High-quality double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) were synthesized by catalytic decomposition method at using Tetrahydrofuran. The as-synthesized DWCNTs typically have catalytic impurities and amorphous carbon, which were removed by two-step purification process, consisting of thermal oxidation and H2O2, HNO3, HCl treatment. The DWCNT suspension was prepared by dispersing the purified DWCNTs in an aqueous sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate solution with horn-type sonication. This was then sprayed on ITO glass to fabricate CNT field emitters. The quality of purified DWCNTs was estimated with X-ray diffraction and Thermal Gravity Analysis. The field emission properties were improved by increasing the process time of HCl treatment.