Fabrication of Carbon Nanotube/Zinc Oxide Composite Films by Electrodeposition

Abstract

Carbon nanotube/zinc oxide (CNT/ZnO) composite films were fabricated by electrodeposition with aqueous solution of ZnCl2 and water-soluble CNTs prepared using a high-speed vibration milling technique. The experimental results of secondary ion mass spectroscopy and Raman scattering spectroscopy clearly showed that the CNTs were embedded in the ZnO films. The field electron emission was observed from selectively-etched CNT/ZnO composite films.

Field Electron Emission from Carbon Nanotube/ZnO Composite Films Prepared by Electrodeposition

“…The former Raman peak is attributed to the defectinduced D-band phonon mode in the incorporated CNT while the latter is the optical G-band phonon mode of the CNT. 25) The intensity ratio of the D band relative to the G band is higher in the present MWNTs than in SWNTs in the previous study, 15) which indicates that the MWNTs include a larger number of defects. We also carried out the electrodeposition with non-solubilized MWNTs which were just mixed in the electrolyte solution without the HSVM treatment.…”

“…The electrodeposition of MWNT/ZnO films was carried out with different concentrations of the solubilized MWNT (0-5 mg in the electrolyte solution) at different reaction temperatures of 50-85 C. Figure 2(a) shows an SEM image of the deposited film without addition of MWNT at 70 C. The film surface is composed of particles with a size smaller than 1 m which is a typical morphology of electrodeposited ZnO. 15) The Raman scattering spectrum of this ZnO film did not show any signal assigned to MWNTs in the wavenumber range of 1200-2000 cm À1 . By contrast, the ZnO films deposited with solubilized MWNTs exhibited two Raman scattering peaks at $1350 and $1580 cm À1 [see Figs.…”

“…The emitter films of MWNT/ZnO composites were prepared according to a modification of a described electrodeposition method. 15,18) In an aqueous solution of 400 ml of 0.1 M KCl and 3 mM of ZnCl 2 , 10 ml of an aqueous solution of watersoluble MWNT was added. The water-soluble MWNTs were prepared by the following HSVM technique.…”

“…For more versatile producibility of the composite emitters, we have recently replaced the Al matrix with zinc oxide (ZnO). 15) ZnO is a superior matrix for various functional materials because it is an abundant and environmentally-friendly wide-bandgap semiconductor. 16,17) Among a variety of synthesis methods of ZnO, we chose an electrodeposition technique which is a low-temperature electrochemical process to grow ZnO films on an electrode surface.…”