A facile approach to synthesis of novel SnO2 nanostructures with high field-emission properties

• A novel SnO2 nanostructure was synthesized by a simple method.
• Field-emission of SnO2 is significantly improved.
• These Prickly-like SnO2 nanostructures are promising candidates as field emitters.

A novel three-dimensional (3D) prickly-like SnO2 nanostructure has been effectively synthesized by a hydrothermal method. The obtained nanostructures consist of SnO2 nanosheets and arrayed SnO2 nanorods. The field-emission properties of prickly-like SnO2 nanostructures have been measured to exhibit a lower turn-on electric field of 0.87 V μm−1, threshold electric field of 1.2 V μm−1. This high-performance emitter material can be applied as field-emission flat panel displays and cold electron sources in display devices.