Direct growth of carbon nanofibers on metal mesh substrates by ion irradiation method

One-dimensional (1D) carbon nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are considered to be one of the best field emitters in the near future by virtue of their high aspect ratio, chemical inertness and extraordinary mechanical and electrical properties. A lot of research demonstrated the potential of carbon nanomaterials as the electron emission scources such as flexible field emission display, imaging electron microscope, microwave amplifier and X-ray tubes for medical imaging. In this regard many attempt has been made to grow carbon nanomaterials on various substrates using various techniques. For their growth, however, growth temperatures higher than 500degC are usually required. Recently, an "ion-irradiation method" was proposed to fabricate CNFs on carbon and carbon pre-coated substrates without any catalyst even at room temperature. In this study, we challenged the direct growth of CNFs on metal mesh substrates Copper (Cu) and Molybdenum (Mo), without carbon precoating using ion irradiation method.