Synthesis and field emission of novel ZnO nanorod chains

A new aqueous chemical growth method for generation of ZnO nanorod chains, transformed from ZnO micro dumbbell, has been developed. The novel structure and morphology of the as-synthesized ZnO micro dumbbell and ZnO nanorod chains are characterized using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopies. Field emission characterization shows that the turn-on fields for the ZnO nanorod chains and micro dumbbell are 2.7 and 5.0 V/μm, respectively. The field enhancement factor β was estimated to be about 2194 for ZnO nanorod chains. The findings imply that ZnO nanorod chains may be suitable for cold-cathode electron source applications.