A novel mechanical approach to improve the field emission characteristics of printed CNT films

A novel post-treatment method is presented to improve the field emission properties of printed carbon nanotube (CNT) films. Screen-printed multi-walled CNT (MWNT) film was treated by mechanical crushing method and cleaned by high-speed airflow. Compared to those of un-treated film, the turn-on electric field of the treated film decreased from 2.5 to 1.7 V/μm, and the total emission current of the treated film that has the same printing area as the un-treated one increased from ∼120 to ∼1000 μA. SEM study revealed that the enhanced field emission is due to the removal of residual materials covered on the surface of CNTs.