Effect of nanostructured morphologies of SnO

SnO2 nanoneedles, nanorods and nanowires were synthesized at different temperatures, and their field emission properties were investigated in detail. On comparing the three nanostructures of SnO2, we find that the synthesis temperature has a prominent influence on the morphology, consequently affecting the field emission properties, especially the turn-on field and the emission current density. Among them, the SnO2 nanoneedle possesses the lowest turn-on field of 1.23 V/μm and the highest current density 2.19 mA/cm2 at 3.06 V/μm. The mechanism behind the influence of the synthesis temperature on the morphology and field emission properties of SnO2 nanostructures is discussed in detail. These results can be valuable for the application of SnO2 nanomaterial in the cathodes of field emission based devices