Synthesis and field emission of MoO3 nanoflowers by a microwave hydrothermal route

MoO3 nanoflowers were successfully synthesized on a Si substrate by a facility microwave hydrothermal method. The nanoflowers consisted of tens of nanobelts and the nanobelts were about several micrometers in length, several tens to several hundreds of nanometers in width, and tens of nanometers in thickness. Field-emission measurements showed that the nanoflowers had a relatively low turn-on field of ∼4.3 V/μm and their emission was a barrier tunneling quantum-mechanical process. The fluctuations of the emission current were less than 10% over 3 h. The low turn-on field and high stability of emission current indicate that the as-grown MoO3 nanobelts exhibit a good field-emission property and have great potential for applications in field-emission devices.