Comparison of two methods for the synthesis of SiO₂/SiC nanoparticles
by Zhigang Sun; Xiaojing Qiao; Qingguo Ren; Wangchang Li; Xiang Wan
International Journal of Nanotechnology (IJNT), Vol. 12, No. 10/11/12, 2015

Abstract: The unique hydrothermal method and traditional sol-gel process for the synthesis of nanometre SiO₂/SiC particles were comparatively studied. The sol-gel system consists of phenolic resin, ethyl alcohol (C₂H₅OH) and tetra-ethoxysilane (TEOS). The C-Si binary gel is obtained after the hydrolysing and drying process. Simultaneously, in the hydrothermal kettle, the Si/C precursor is prepared with glucose as the carbon source and silicon powder as silicon source. Then both the Si/C precursors and the C/Si binary gel were calcinated at 1200ºC for 7 h. The morphology and structure of the final products were characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron micrograph (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and thermal gravimetric (TG). Compared with the two methods, better crystallised SiO₂/SiC nanochains were obtained from the Si/C precursors through the unique hydrothermal method with the average size ranging from 100 to 500 nm. The nanochains were composed of the uniformly dispersed spherical SiO₂ particles connected with cubic SiC rods. A vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism was applied to explain the growth of the nanochains. In addition, by studying the effect of the pH of the solution, the crystallisation of the final chains was promoted when the hydrothermal system tended to be neutral.

Online publication date: Fri, 18-Sep-2015

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Nanotechnology (IJNT):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com