Synthesis of blue-green photoluminescent β-SiC nanowires via a simple catalyst-free CVD technique

beta-SiC nanowires (NWs) have been successfully synthesized in the absence of Ar gas protection by a simple, catalyst-free chemical vapour deposition (CVD) using silicon, trace nanoscale SiO2 particles, and phenolic resin powders as starting materials. The beta-SiC NWs formed by a vapour-solid growth mechanism, with growth along the [1 1 1] direction. They were well-crystallized, with various morphologies (chain-bead, bamboo-shaped, and linear), and had lengths of up to dozens of microns and diameters of 80-650 nm. Moreover, they exhibited excellent blue-green photoluminescence properties due to the presence of stacking faults and amorphous SiO2. This novel CVD technique is green, low cost, and suitable for large scale production of SiC NWs. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.