Field emission enhancement of polypyrrole due to band bending induced tunnelling in polypyrrole-carbon nanotubes nanocomposite

Polypyrrole–multiwalled carbon nanotubes (PPy–MWCNT) nanocomposites with high field emission characteristics have been fabricated by a very simple and effective in situ chemical polymerization technique that bypasses the need of de-agglomerating the MWCNT. Based on structural characterization, we have proposed formation of a three tier structure of PPy–MWCNTs composite with granular PPy on the top. Field emission studies, explained on the basis of band bending at the PPy–MWCNT interface, show drastic increase of field enhancement factor (∼4664) and low turn on field (1.7 V/μm), opening new possibilities of improvement of PPy/PPy–MWCNT composites.