Carbon was coated on the surface of molybdenum grids by ion beam assisted deposition. The electron emission characteristics from the grids with and without carbon, which were contaminated by an active electron emission substance of the cathode, was measured using an analogous diode method. The results show that electron emission from the carbon-coated Mo grid was much less than that from the Mo grid without carbon. The cathode emission substance deposited on the carbon surface of the grid was analyzed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron probes. Analysis results revealed that the carbon-coated Mo grid could effectively reduce the accumulation of the cathode emitting substances Ba and BaO on the grid surface. The reason for the suppression of electron emission of the carbon-coated Mo grid is discussed. The carbon-coated Mo grids were used in pulsed-controlled grid traveling wave tubes and the working lifetime of the tube was increased from tens of hours to over 1000 h.