Abstract
We report the electron field emission characteristics of functionalised single walled carbon nanotube – polymer composites produced by solution processing. We show that excellent electron emission can be obtained by using as little as 0.7% volume fraction of nanotubes in the composite. Furthermore by tailoring the nanotube concentration and type of polymer, improvements in the charge transfer through the composite can be obtained. The synthesis of well dispersed randomly oriented nanotube - polymer composites by solution processing allows the development of carbon nanotube based large area cathodes produced using a scaleable technology. The relative insensitivity of the cathode’s field emission characteristics to the electrical conductivity of the composite is also discussed.