Chapter 7 - Synthesis and Properties of Silicon Carbide Nanopapers

Abstract

It has been generally accepted that the band gap width of crystallized silicon carbide (SiC) is about two to three times more than silicon. This feature of SiC results in higher activation energy demand during the electron transition, which is vital for maintaining the semiconducting electron transfer. Although this feature used to be considered as a drawback of SiC electronic devices under mild circumstances, now the SiC-based electronics are expected to serve in harsh environments of higher temperature, higher power, and higher frequency conditions. The theoretical design seems practical since SiC nanopapers were discovered. This chapter starts with the review of the preparation of one-dimensional SiC nanostructures (1D SiC) since the 1D SiC are the most ideal building blocks of SiC nanopaper. Especially to the centimeters-long SiC nanowires, the as-prepared SiC nanopapers could be a strong “bridge” between microworld and macroworld due to their unique fabric morphology. Based on practical and potential strategies of organizing 1D SiC into SiC nanopaper, the novel nanopaper has been proved could be practically applied. SiC nanopapers exhibit electrical resistance that linearly increases with increasing environmental relative humidity in a very short time, and high photoelectrocatalytic activity under UV irradiation, which are potentially applied to high performance sensors and new energy transfer devices.