Carbon composite

A joint project between

’s Advanced Technology Institute (

) and

has found beneficial properties of carbon nanotube polymer nanocomposites for use in electron emitter material.

The collaborative research between the two institutions found that a composite of carbon nanotubes embedded in a polymer can provide exceptional performance for field-emission cathodes.

According to the researchers, efficient emission of electrons from a composite surface is possible by controlling the concentration of carbon nanotubes.

Under high voltage, the electrons strike a phosphor screen creating red, green and blue colours that can potentially be used for applications such as low-power back-lighting units in LCD televisions and large-area field-emission displays.

Tailoring the correct choice of polymer and the chemical treatment of the nanotubes is said to open up the possibility of large-area carbon-nanotube-based electronics, including transparent electronics on plastic.

Dr David Carey, who is leading the project, said: ‘Our successful exploitation of carbon-nanotube-based electronics for display technology demonstrates the importance of multi-disciplinary collaborative research. The work at Surrey and Dublin shows how making changes on the nano scale can affect a material’s properties over a much larger scale and can lead to their exploitation in large-area electronics.’

Prof Ravi Silva, director of the ATI, added: ‘This type of high-quality research that brings nanoscience through to engineering is what could lead to many practical applications that require high-intensity electron field-emission sources. The ATI at Surrey has significant expertise in this field and is leading the way in the application of carbon nanotubes.’