Effects of Different Humidity on the Growth and Field Emission Properties of CuO Nanowires

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1077.2013.13100

Abstract

Abstract: Various kinds of vertical CuO nanowires on the Cu substrate were prepared by thermal oxidation method at 400℃ in 500 sccm air with different flow of water vapour (0, 500, 1500, 3000 and 4000 sccm). The morphology and structure charcateristics of as prepared CuO nanowires were further investigated by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Field Emission Transmission Electron Microscope (FE-TEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD), respectively, and their field emission properties were also explored. The results show that both the density of as-obtained CuO nanowires and their field emission performance including turn-on field are greatly influenced by the water vapour. The CuO nanowires prepared under the water vapour (500 sccm) exibit higher density and better field emission performance than those obtained only in dry air condition (500 sccm). The turn-on field of the former is 3.7 V/μm, obviously lower than those of the latter (6.5 V/μm). Additionally, the field emission performance of as prepared CuO nanowires improves with the increase of water vapour flow in the preparation at first, reaches the extreme value at 3000 sccm, and then turns down. The best field emission performance of CuO nanowires is obtained in 3000 sccm water vapour where the lowest turn-on field is about 1.4 V/μm.

Key words: CuO nanowires, thermal oxidation, environment humidity, field emission

CLC Number:

TB383
O462

YE Yun, CHEN Tian-Yuan, CAI Shou-Jin, YAN Min, LIU Yu-Hui, GUO Tai-Liang. Effects of Different Humidity on the Growth and Field Emission Properties of CuO Nanowires[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2013, 28(12): 1359-1363.

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