Low temperature growth and characterizations of single crystalline CuGeO3 nanowires

Single crystalline CuGeO3 nanowires with a diameter of 30-200 nm and a length of >10 mu m have been prepared by a facile hydrothermal deposition route at low temperature. The nanowires are orthorhombic single crystals, which are supported by X-ray diffraction, selected area electron diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and Raman analyses. Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) measurement shows a strong blue light emission peak at 442 nm with a broad emission band. The formation and growth of CuGeO3 nanowires are proposed based on the oxide-assisted growth mechanism. The CuGeO3 nanowires with single crystalline nature appear to be one of the best candidates for investigation of the related physical, chemical properties and further potential applications among ternary nanometallic oxides.