Stacked conductive metal–organic framework nanorods for high-performance vacuum electronic devices

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) possessing many unique features have been utilized in several fields in recent years. However, their application in field emission (FE) vacuum electronic device is hindered by their poor electrical conductivity. Herein, a novel conductive MOF of Cu-catecholate (Cu-CAT) with the nanorod length of 200 nm and conductivity of 0.01 S/cm is grown on the graphite paper (GP). Under an applied electric field, a large number of electrons can be emitted from the nanoscale emitter tips of MOF surface to the anode. The great field emission performance of Cu-CAT@GP cold cathode film including a low turn-on field of 0.59 V/μm and ultra-high field enhancement factor of 29622, even comparable to most carbon-based materials that have been widely investigated in FE studies, is achieved in this work. Meanwhile, Cu-CAT@GP film has a good electrical stability with a current attenuation of 9.4% in 2 h. The findings reveal the cathode film fabricated by conductive MOF can be a promising candidate of cold electron source for vacuum electronic applications.