Effect of MWNT electroless Ag plating on field emission properties of MWNT/Ag nanocomposite cathodes

Highlights: ► Ag nanoparticles and coating were electroless plated onto the surface of CNTs. ► A low turn on field of CNT/Ag cathode was achieved. ► A new way for high stability of CNT/Ag cathode was suggested. - Abstract: Field emission properties of multiwall carbon nanotube (MWNT) electroless Ag plating nanocomposite cathodes fabricated using screen printing were studied. The MWNT was purified and electroless plated with Ag. The results of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) showed that the morphology of Ag electroless plating on the surface of MWNT depended on the temperature of electroless plating. Experiments showed that the stability of MWNT/Ag nanocomposite cathodes had no more than 10% degradation, achieving a field emission current density of 4.0 mA/cm2 at an applied electric field of 0.5 V/μm for 50 h. The proposed MWNT/Ag nanocomposite cathodes possess good field emission properties and have potential for application in field emission displays.