Facile synthesis of interconnected SiC nanowire networks on silicon substrate

Abstract Nanoscale SiC networks were prepared by using carbothermal reaction between silica xerogels and carbon nanoparticles in an argon atmosphere on the silicon substrate. Microstructure characterizations indicate that the SiC networks were composed of single-crystalline SiC interconnected nanowires wrapped with amorphous SiO 2 layer. The diameter of interconnected nanowires was 50–400 nm. SiC nanowires were grown by vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism using Ni as catalyst. The construction of networks mainly depended on SiC nanowire branched growth processes and the welding processes by SiO 2 deposition on adjacent nanowires to form junctions. Such nanowire networks are important to meet the requirements of electronics and optoelectronics device integration.