Abstract
Well-crystallizedβ-SiC nanorods grown on electrospun nanofibers were synthesized by carbothermal reduction of Tb doped SiO2(SiO2:Tb) nanofibers at 1,250 °C. The as-synthesized SiC nanorods were 100–300 nm in diameter and 2–3 μm in length. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results suggested that the growth of the SiC nanorods should be governed by vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism with Tb metal as catalyst. Tb(NO3)3particles on the surface of the electrospun nanofibers were decomposed at 500 °C and later reduced to the formation of Tb nanoclusters at 1,200 °C, and finally the formation of a Si–C–Tb ally droplet will stimulate the VLS growth at 1,250 °C. Microstructure of the nanorod was further investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was found that SiC <111> is the preferred initial growth direction. The liquid droplet was identified to be Si86Tb14, which acted as effective catalyst. Strong green emissions were observed from the SiC nanorod samples. Four characteristic photoluminescence (PL) peaks of Tb ions were also identified.
Highlights
SiC nanomaterials have promising applications in electronics and photonics owing to their attractive optical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties [1]
Since the first synthesis of carbide nanorods using carbon nanotube as templates by Dai group [5], SiC nanorods have been successfully synthesized by various methods
A schematic graph can be drawn at the bottom of Fig. 3 showing the growth process of the SiC nanorods
Summary
SiC nanomaterials have promising applications in electronics and photonics owing to their attractive optical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties [1]. SiC nanorods have excellent mechanical and field emission properties, which find potential applications in various nanocomposite materials and in field emission nanoscale devices [2,3,4]. The primary feature of VLS mechanism is that the liquid metal alloy droplets sit on the tip of the nanorods and act as the catalyst for the continued growth of the nanorods.
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