Synthesis of SiC nanowires by a simple chemical vapour deposition route in the presence of ZrB2

Abstract The SiC nanowires (NWs) were fabricated by a simple chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method at high temperature using Si, phenolic resin, and ZrB2 powder. The morphologies of the fabricated SiC NWs included SiC/SiO2 chain-beads and straight wires with core-shell structures. The fabricated SiC NWs were micrometre-to-millimetre in length, with chains 100–300 nm in diameter and beads with diameters of less than 1 μm. The core-shell-structured SiC NWs consisted of crystalline SiC cores and thin amorphous SiO2 shells. SiC crystals grew in the [111] direction governed by a vapour-solid (VS) mechanism. The added ZrB2 promotes the generation of gaseous species at higher gas pressures, which contributes to the formation of SiC NWs by CVD. The fabricated SiC NWs exhibited good photoluminescence properties due to many stacking faults and the presence of amorphous SiO2.