Research

Enhanced Field Emission Current Density in Chemically Engineered Multiwall Carbon Nanotube–Neodymium Oxide (MWCNT@Nd2O3) Heterostructures: Interfacial Synergy From Experiments and First-Principles Studies- By Prof. Santanu ghosh

The vertically aligned multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT), neodymium oxide (Nd2O3) and (MWCNT-Nd2O3) heterostructure are successfully fabricated through a facile three-step synthesis process: the synthesis of MWCNT rods by the chemical vapor deposition technique, synthesis of the Nd2O3 nanoparticles by using the micellar-assisted solid-state route, and the fabrication of the MWCNT-Nd2O3 heterostructure, in which Nd2O3 nanoparticles are uniformly self-assembled on the MWCNT rods by utilizing a mixture of ethylene glycol and ethanol as a binding agent using the spin coating technique. Moreover, the MWCNT-Nd2O3 heterostructure exhibits enhanced field emission properties, with a lower turn-on field of 2.4 V µm−1 compared to pure MWCNT and Nd2O3, which have turn-on fields of 3.6 and 3.8 V µm−1, respectively. The emission current stability at a preset value of 6 V µm−1 over an 8-h duration is found to be fairly good, characterized by current fluctuations within ± 3% of the average value. The enhanced field emission (FE) performance of the MWCNT-Nd2O3 heterostructure is attributed to its high enhancement factor (β) ∼ 3.3 × 103. The experimental results are supported by a computation of the density of states using density functional theory.

Link :  https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202521527, 30 October 2025

Contact Details

Santanu Ghosh
Department of Physics,
Santanu1@physics.iitd.ac.in