Synthesis of Hierarchical β-SiC Nanostructures with Iron Catalyst

The β-SiC hierarchical nanostructures were synthesized by plasma assisted DC arc discharge of the highly pure Si, SiO₂ and graphite powders and a small amount of Fe catalyst grains mixed in a water-cooled graphite crucible. The influence of the synthesis conditions, including the molar ratio of the reactants and discharge voltage, current and time, on the β-SiC hierarchical nanostructures was investigated with scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the vapor-liquid-solid growth mechanism was responsible for the Fe-catalyzed, < 111 > preferentially grown β-SiC nano-wires, synthesized under the optimized conditions. Moreover, strong light emission at 425 nm was observed from the hierarchical β-SiC nanostructures.