Silicon Carbide Nanowires Synthesis and Preliminary Investigations
J. Patyka, R. Rich b, M. Wieligór b and T.W. Żerda b
aNicolaus Copernicus University, Institute of Physics, Grudziądzka 5, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
bTexas Christian University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Fort Worth, TX 76129, USA
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As the field of biotechnology expands and the semiconductor industry approaches the limit of size reduction with conventional materials, these and other fields will increasingly rely on nanomaterials with novel properties. Silicon carbide (SiC) possesses many properties that make it appealing to research and industry: a large band gap, high hardness, high strength, low thermal expansion, chemical inertness, etc. It is known that silicon carbide nanowires can be synthesized through a reaction between silicon vapor and multiwalled carbon nanotubes. This process was refined to produce smaller, straighter nanowires. This was done by analyzing the dependence of the reaction rate on the partial vapor pressure of silicon. The reaction rate was studied by comparison of SiC and multiwalled carbon nanotubes peak intensities in X-ray diffractograms, which produced an estimate of the respective reactions' SiC yields. The particle morphologies were then analyzed with transmission electron microscopy. Finally, Fourier transform: infrared spectroscopy was utilized to study the intensities and frequencies of the SiC infrared absorption bands. This data was analyzed with respect to the previously determined yield and particle sizes of the respective SiC nanowire samples.
DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.118.480
PACS numbers: 81.05.Je, 81.07.Gf, 81.10.St, 81.20.Ka