Synthesis of reduced graphene oxide nanosheet-supported agglomerated cobalt oxide nanoparticles and their enhanced electron field emission properties

Abstract

In this work, the field emission properties were demonstrated of reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (rGO-NSs) containing agglomerated Co3O4 nanoparticles (rGO-Co3O4) synthesized by a one-step microwave approach. Structural investigation indicates that the as-synthesized rGO-Co3O4 composite contains agglomerated Co3O4 nanoparticles on the surface of rGO-NSs. The field emission properties of the rGO-Co3O4 composite were investigated. The results indicate that the rGO-Co3O4 composite has excellent field emission performance, with turn-on field of 2.6 V ?m-1, threshold field of 3.1 V ?m-1, and a field enhancement factor of 3161.8. Furthermore, the emission current shows stability over 400 min of continuous operation. The synthesized rGO-Co3O4 composite has potential for application in field emission devices. This enhancement of field emission properties was investigated based on the surface morphology of the self-assembled nanostructures. � 2017 The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.