Synthesis and Characterization of Crystalline Silicon Carbide Nanoribbons

In this paper, a simple method to synthesize silicon carbide (SiC) nanoribbons is presented. Silicon powder and carbon black powder placed in a horizontal tube furnace were exposed to temperatures ranging from 1,250 to 1,500 degrees C for 5-12 h in an argon atmosphere at atmospheric pressure. The resulting SiC nanoribbons were tens to hundreds of microns in length, a few microns in width and tens of nanometers in thickness. The nanoribbons were characterized with electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and were found to be hexagonal wurtzite-type SiC (2H-SiC) with a growth direction of [10 (1) over bar0]. The influence of the synthesis conditions such as the reaction temperature, reaction duration and chamber pressure on the growth of the SiC nanomaterial was investigated. A vapor-solid reaction dominated nanoribbon growth mechanism was discussed.