Influence of raw powder size, reaction temperature, and soaking time on synthesis of SiC/SiO2 coaxial nanowires via thermal evaporation

Abstract

High-yield SiC/SiO2 core-shell nanowires were synthesized without adding metal catalysts from outside through a simple thermal evaporation of silicon powders during decomposition of methane gas. The influence of three parameters, size of Si raw powder (50 nm and 5 μm), reaction temperature (1573, 1623 and 1673 K), and soaking time (1, 3 and 6 h), was investigated. The typical synthesized nanowires from different conditions possess the diameter of no thicker than 100 nm with several tens micrometers in length. It was addressed that the condition using the smaller size Si powder, which contained the highest amount of oxygen, at higher temperature lead to more complete reaction to obtain a large quantity of nanowires. The synthesized nanowires at higher reaction temperature and longer soaking time possessed larger core than those nanowires prepared at lower reaction temperature and shorter soaking time. Oxidation of larger size Si powder improved yield of nanowires. Based on these results, it was suggested that the typical nanowires should be grown via the oxide-assisted growth mechanism.