Synthesis and characteristics of cubic silicon carbide nanospheres with smooth surfaces

J Zhu; X Xiong; X L Wu; H T Chen; W C Zhang; Paul K Chu

doi:10.1166/jnn.2009.1318

Synthesis and characteristics of cubic silicon carbide nanospheres with smooth surfaces

J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2009 Nov;9(11):6643-7. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2009.1318.

Authors

J Zhu¹, X Xiong, X L Wu, H T Chen, W C Zhang, Paul K Chu

Affiliation

¹ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, People's Republic of China.

PMID: 19908578
DOI: 10.1166/jnn.2009.1318

Abstract

Large quantities of cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) nanospheres are synthesized on silicon wafer using zinc sulphide (ZnS) and activated carbon powder. The synthesized nanospheres have smooth surfaces and their diameters range from 20 to 430 nm. The growth of these nanospheres can be explained by a gas-solid model. ZnS powder plays a key role in the formation of activated Si and SiOx. Carburization of the activated Si and SiOx by CO gas leads to the formation of the 3C-SiC nanospheres. Special three-dimensional structure of the product is related to high concentrations of the reactants.