Synthesis of SiC nanonecklaces via chemical vapor deposition in the presence of a catalyst

Abstract

SiC nanonecklaces were synthesized on a large scale on as-prepared Si–SiC ceramic substrates via chemical vapor deposition with ferrocene as a catalyst. Structural, morphological, and elemental analyses showed that the as-synthesized nanonecklaces consisted of 3C–SiC stems up to several hundreds of micrometers in length with diameters of 200–400 nm, and SiO2 beads with diameters of 0.3–1 μm. On the basis of the experimental and theoretical characterizations, a combination of growth mechanism of a vapor–liquid–solid-stem and modulation-bead was proposed as the growth mode of the SiC nanonecklaces.