Charge injection from carbon nanofibers into hexane under ambient conditions

The observation of charge injection from carbon nanofibers (CNFs) into liquid hexane under ambient conditions is reported. A CNF-coated electrode and a counter electrode are brought into micrometer proximity in a quasi-parallel geometry using a strain-gauge-based proximity sensor. Controlled charge injection is obtained at interelectrode distances of 4, 6, 9, and 15 μm. The resulting emission current shows an onset of about 3 V/μm , and it follows the Fowler-Nordheim behavior. The work reported here opens new applications for free electron chemistry in liquids and novel liquid field emitter devices.