Solvothermal synthesis of tin sulfide (SnS) nanorods and investigation of its field emission properties

In the present study, we report synthesis of tin sulfide (SnS) nano-rods using a simple solvothermal method at different reaction time period. The formation of single phase SnS has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman analysis. The XRD analysis revealed that the predominant phase in all prepared samples is orthorhombic SnS. The formation of nano-rods of SnS was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) analysis. To investigate the optical properties of SnS nano-rods UV–visible spectroscopy analysis was carried out. We observed that the band gap of SnS nano-rods decreases with increase in reaction time and can be attributed to the quantum confinement effect. Finally, field emission investigations on the SnS nano-rods at the base pressure of 1 × 10− 8 mbar were carried out and found to be superior to the other chalcogenide nanostructures. As-synthesized SnS nano-rods emitter exhibits excellent field emission properties such as low turn-on field (~ 2.5 V/µm for 10 µA/ cm2), high emission current density (~ 647 µA/cm2 at 3.9 V/µm) and superior current stability (~ 5 h for ~ 1 µA). Thus, the facile one-step synthesis approach and robust nature of SnS nano-rods emitter can provide prospects for the future development of large-area emitter applications such as flat-panel-display devices.