Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 21 No 2 (2017): 323 - 333

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17576/mjas-2017-2102-07

 

 

 

THE SYNTHESIS OF ZINC OXIDE/CARBON SPHERES NANOCOMPOSITES AND FIELD ELECTRON EMISSION PROPERTIES

 

(Sintesis Nanokomposit Zink Oksida/Sfera Karbon dan Sifat Pemancaran Elektron Medan)

 

Suriani Abu Bakar^1,2*, Suhufa Alfarisa^1,2,3, Azmi Mohamed^1,4, Norhayati Hashim^1,4

 

¹Nanotechnology Research Centre, Faculty of Science and Mathematics

²Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Mathematics

Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia

³Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science,

Universitas PGRI Palembang, Jl. Jend Ahmad Yani 9/10 Ulu, Palembang 30251, South Sumatera, Indonesia

⁴Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Mathematics,

Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author: absuriani@yahoo.com

 

 

Received: 19 November 2016; Accepted: 6 March 2017

 

 

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO)/carbon spheres (CS) nanocomposites were successfully synthesised using waste engine oil as precursor for the CS production. ZnO nanorods were grown using sol-gel immersion method with MgZnO as the seeded catalyst and thermal chemical vapour deposition was used to synthesise CS. Different configurations of ZnO/CS structures were prepared i.e. CS-coated ZnO and ZnO-coated CS. The structures of composite samples were analysed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray (EDX), micro-Raman and X-ray Diffraction Spectroscopy (XRD). FESEM observations revealed the structural changes of pristine ZnO and CS in composite structures. The as-present of ZnO or CS was believed to affect the subsequent growth of another structure. Field electron emission (FEE) properties of both nanocomposites were also investigated. It was found that ZnO-coated CS sample has better FEE properties with lower turn-on (3.48 Vµm^-1) and threshold field (6.35 Vµm^-1) obtained at current density of 0.1 and 1 µAcm^-2, respectively. This study highlighted that nanocomposites of ZnO and CS have successfully enhanced the field emission performances of materials compared with pristine ZnO or CS due to the structural changes of material emitter.

 

Keywords:  zinc oxide, carbon spheres, waste engine oil, field electron emission

 

Abstrak

Nanokomposit zink oksida (ZnO)/sfera karbon (SK) telah berjaya disintesis menggunakan minyak enjin terpakai sebagai pelopor untuk penghasilan SK. Nanorod ZnO telah ditumbuhkan menggunakan kaedah rendaman sol-gel dengan MgZnO sebagai pemangkin berbenih dan pemendapan wap kimia terma telah digunakan untuk mensintesis SK. Konfigurasi yang berlainan bagi struktur ZnO/SK telah disediakan iaitu SK bersalut ZnO dan ZnO bersalut SK. Struktur sampel komposit dianalisis menggunakan Mikroskop Imbasan Elektron Pancaran Medan (FESEM), penyerakan tenaga sinar-X (EDX), spektroskopi mikro-Raman dan  pembelauan sinar-X (XRD). Pemerhatian FESEM menunjukkan perubahan struktur ZnO dan CS tulen dalam struktur komposit. ZnO atau CS sedia ada dipercayai memberi kesan kepada pertumbuhan seterusnya struktur lain. Sifat pemancaran elektron medan (PEM) bagi kedua-dua nanokomposit juga turut dikaji. Kajian mendapati bahawa sampel ZnO bersalut SK mempunyai ciri-ciri PEM yang lebih baik dengan nilai medan permulaan (3.48 Vμm^-1) dan ambang (6.35 Vμm^-1) yang lebih rendah diperolehi pada ketumpatan arus 0.1 dan 1 μAcm^-2. Kajian ini menekankan nanokomposit ZnO dan SK telah berjaya meningkatkan prestasi pemancaran medan bahan berbanding dengan  ZnO atau CS tulen disebabkan oleh perubahan struktur bahan pemancar.

 

Kata kunci:  zink oksida, sfera karbon, minyak enjin terpakai, pemancaran elektron medan

 

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