Combustion synthesis of one-dimensional nanocrystalline silicon carbide

Beta-SiC (cubic phase) nanowires (SiCNWs) have been grown spontaneously during the autothermal self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) from elemental silicon and poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) powder mixtures in oxygen-enriched atmosphere. The combustion process was on-line monitored using highspeed photography in order to estimate the reaction processing time which was well below 1 s. From the emission spectroscopy the averaged combustion temperature was evaluated to be close to 2000 K. The products were characterized by wet chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The raw products were processed by wet chemistry to obtain pure (above 90%) well-crystallized one-dimensional single crystals of SiCNWs. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim