Molybdenum dioxide (MoO2) with tetravalent molybdenum normally exists in three structural polymorphs: monoclinic, tetragonal and hexagonal. Though significant efforts have been noticed for the synthesis of monoclinic MoO2, there are very few reports on the stabilization of tetragonal MoO2 in ambient atmosphere. We have developed a cost-effective and environmental friendly process for the synthesis of highly crystalline tetragonal MoO2 in cooking oil at low temperature (200 degrees C) and ambient pressure. The as-obtained MoO2 shows a band gap of 2.39 eV, which is comparatively lower than MoO2 microsheets (4.22 eV). The field emission study of tetragonal MoO2 shows low turn-on field of 3.25 V/mu m and attained a maximum current density of similar to 55 mu A/cm(2) at an applied field of 5.8 V/mu m. Thus, we have shown the tetragonal MoO2 nanosheets can be used as materials for field emission displays and microelectronic devices. Thus, the present work opens up new possibilities of stabilization of tetragonal MoO2 via economical as well as environmental friendly route and it can be used as an electron emitter for various electronic devices.