A comprehensive comparative study of electron field emission properties of carbon nanotube (CNT) films prepared by vacuum filtration and screen-printing was carried out. Field emission performance of vacuum filtered CNT films with different filtered CNT suspension volumes was systematically studied, and the optimum electron emission was obtained with a low turn on field of similar to 0.93 V/mu m (at 1 mu A/cm(2)) and a high field enhancement factor beta of similar to 9720. Comparing with screen-printed CNT films, vacuum filtered CNT films showed better electron emission performance, longer lifetime, and greater adhesive strength to substrates. This work reveals a potential use of vacuum filtered CNT films as field emission cathodes. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.