High-performance field emission of carbon nanotube paste emitters fabricated using graphite nanopowder filler

Carbon nanotube (CNT) paste emitters were fabricated using graphite nanopowder filler. The CNT paste emitters consist of CNTs as the emitting material, graphite nanopowder as the filler and a graphite rod as the cathode. Rather than metal or inorganic materials, graphite nanopowder was adapted as a filler material to make the CNT paste emitters. After fabricating the emitters, sandpaper treatment was applied to increase the density of emission sites. The CNT paste emitters showed a high field emission performance, for example a high emission current of 8.5 mA from a cylindrical emitter with a diameter of 0.7 mm (corresponding to a current density of 2.2 A cm−2) and an extremely stable emission current at 1 mA (260 mA cm−2 for 20 h). Interestingly, after a number of electrical arcing events, the emitters still showed a high emission current of 5–8 mA (higher than 1 A cm−2). In addition to the sound electrical and thermal properties of the graphite filler, effective mechanical adhesion of the CNTs onto the graphite cathode induced by the use of the graphite nanopowder filler contributed the excellent field emission properties of the CNT paste emitters.