A carbon fiber–ZnS nanocomposite for dual application as an efficient cold cathode as well as a luminescent anode for display technology

Abstract

In the current work we present a simple technique to develop a carbon nanofiber (CNF)/zinc sulfide (ZnS) composite material for excellent FED application. CNFs and ZnS microspheres were synthesized by following a simple thermal chemical vapor deposition and hydrothermal procedure, respectively. A rigorous chemical mixture of CNF and ZnS was prepared to produce the CNF–ZnS composite material. The cathodo-luminescence intensity of the composite improved immensely compared to pure ZnS, also the composite material showed better field emission than pure CNFs. For pure CNF the turn-on field was found to be 2.1 V μm⁻¹ whereas for the CNF–ZnS composite it reduced to a value of 1.72 V μm⁻¹. Altogether the composite happened to be an ideal element for both the anode and cathode of a FED system. Furthermore, simulation of our CNF–ZnS composite system using the finite element modeling method also ensured the betterment of field emission from CNF after surface attachment of ZnS nanoclusters.