Electrodeless growth of silver iodide nanowires in a polycarbonate membrane using chemical reaction

We report the fabrication, structural and optical characterization of Silver iodide (AgI) nanowires. Large scale uniform nanowires with lengths 40 m and diameter 100 nm were grown using the simple chemical reaction technique. Morphological study of AgI nanowires was done using scanning electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction studies show the crystalline structure of AgI nanowires. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence technique was used to study the composition of AgI nanowires. UV–Vis absorption studies were made to calculate the optical band gap of AgI nanowires. Photo-luminescence spectrum shows a broad emission peak around 460 nm.     

Synthesis and characterization of shaped ZnS nanocrystals in water in oil microemulsions

Shaped zinc sulfide nanocrystals were synthesized in W/O microemulsions by using cyclohexane/Triton X-100/n-pentanol/water system. Under different synthetic conditions appearance of two distinct morphologies of ZnS nanocrystals, either cubes or nanowires, was proven by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The ZnS cubes have an average size of about 25 nm, while the ZnS nanowires have 25 Å diameter and length ranging from several hundred nanometers up to a few microns. The X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) revealed formation of ZnS with cubic zinc blende crystal structure. Due to two dimensional confinement the exciton of ZnS nanowires is blue shifted compared to the bulk material. Four well-resolved photoluminescence bands in visible spectral region were observed upon excitation of cubic ZnS particles, while in the case of ZnS nanowires emission band was observed at 421 nm. The origin of photoluminescence bands was discussed in details.     

Effect of surface morphology of metallic zinc films deposited by ion beam sputter deposition on the formation of ZnO nanowires

Metallic zinc film with various surface roughnesses was deposited on Si (100) substrates by ion beam sputter deposition utilizing beam energies at 8, 12 and 16 keV. The surface roughness of the metallic zinc film increased as ion beam energy increased and was found to act as a crucial factor for the formation of ZnO nanowires by subsequent thermal oxidation. ZnO nanowires with diameters of ∼30 nm and average length of ∼1 μm were obtained from 12 to 16 keV ion beam deposited samples while no ZnO nanowires were found on 8 keV ion beam deposited samples. Photoluminescence study of ZnO nanowires exhibits a strong UV emission at 377.2 nm (3.287 eV) with a full-width at half maximum of 95.0 meV and negligible defect related deep level emission. The ZnO nanowires are grown along the [110] direction and the growth mechanism is likely due to a solid state based-up diffusion process. Field-emission measurement shows a turn-on field of 7.9 MV/m and a field enhancement factor β of 691 is achieved.     

Effect of surface morphology of metallic zinc films deposited by ion beam sputter deposition on the formation of ZnO nanowires

Metallic zinc film with various surface roughnesses was deposited on Si (100) substrates by ion beam sputter deposition utilizing beam energies at 8, 12 and 16 keV. The surface roughness of the metallic zinc film increased as ion beam energy increased and was found to act as a crucial factor for the formation of ZnO nanowires by subsequent thermal oxidation. ZnO nanowires with diameters of ∼30 nm and average length of ∼1 μm were obtained from 12 to 16 keV ion beam deposited samples while no ZnO nanowires were found on 8 keV ion beam deposited samples. Photoluminescence study of ZnO nanowires exhibits a strong UV emission at 377.2 nm (3.287 eV) with a full-width at half maximum of 95.0 meV and negligible defect related deep level emission. The ZnO nanowires are grown along the [110] direction and the growth mechanism is likely due to a solid state based-up diffusion process. Field-emission measurement shows a turn-on field of 7.9 MV/m and a field enhancement factor β of 691 is achieved.     

Field emission of Co nanowires in polycarbonate template

The Co nanowire arrays were synthesized by electrodeposition in polycarbonate template (PC) with 4 μm thickness. Electron field emission properties of cobalt nanowires were studied for wires with different aspect ratios, R ranged between 10 and 60, while the diameter of wires was fixed about 50 nm. The field emission properties of the samples showed low turn on electric field (E_to) with values varying between 2.9 and 11.3 V/μm showing a minimum value for R = 20 (E_to < 3 V/μm). On the other hand, the enhancement factor shows a peak for nanowires length about 1 μm. Field emission data using the Fowler-Nordhiem theory showed nearly straight-line nature confirming cold field emission of electrons. The fabricated field emitter arrays of cobalt nanowires in the PC templates opens the possibility of fabricating flexible flat panel displays.     

Optical and magnetic properties of 30 and 60 nm Ni nanowires

Ni nanowire arrays of high aspect ratio with the diameters of about 30 nm and 60 nm were prepared by DC applied AC electrodeposition. We observe the different preferred orientation and various magnetic behaviors of 30 and 60 nm diameter nanowires. In addition, the coercivity H_c(||), squareness S(||) and the ratio H_c(||)/H_c(⊥) where the applied field is parallel (||) and perpendicular (⊥) to the long axis of nanowires increase with decreasing wire diameter. This is the first time that optical results of Ni nanowires were presented.     

A wurtz-like reaction to silicon nanowires

Silicon nanowires have been successfully synthesized via wurtz-like reaction, using silicon tetrachloride and sodium in the presence of Co/Ni catalyzer at 500 °C In this process the sodium was used as reductant and flux. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows that the nanowire cluster is about 10 nm in diameter and length up to several microns, and well aligned along their longitude direction. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images demonstrates that as-synthesized nanowires interlayer spacing are around 0.31 nm, corresponding well to the (111) lattice parameter of diamond-like crystalline silicon. Based on the experimental results, the possible wurtz reaction mechanism of the silicon nanowires (SiNWs) has been properly proposed.     

A simple method for fabricating single-crystalline Fe nanowires

This work reports a simple and environmental friendly approach for the fabrication of Fe nanowires under normal pressure and low temperature in the absence of any inorganic or organic templates, substrate, surfactant, external field or magnetic field. This approach involved the production of Fe(OH)₃/NaCl by mechanically milling a mixture of Fe(OH)₃ and NaCl, and the reduction of Fe(OH)₃/NaCl to Fe nanowires. The as-prepared product (Fe/NaCl) and the Fe nanowires obtained by dissolving the NaCl from Fe/NaCl were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and vibrating sample magnetometer. The results showed that the Fe nanowires are about 10-100 nm in diameter and 8-16 μm in length and their saturation magnetization (M_s) and coercivity (H_c) values are 145 emu/g and 206 Oe, respectively.     

Large-scale SnO2 nanowires synthesized by direct sublimation method and their enhanced dielectric responses

In this paper, we developed a direct sublimation method to synthesize large-scale rutile SnO₂ nanowires on 6H–SiC substrate using SnO₂ nanoparticles as starting material. The structural properties of these straight nanowires were investigated in detail. These nanowires grow along [121], and the average diameter and length of these nanowires are 80 nm and 5 μm, respectively. In addition, the dielectric measurement indicates that the dielectric response of the SnO₂ nanowires is significantly enhanced in the low-frequency range. It is suggested that both the rotation direction polarization (RDP) and the space charge polarization (SCP) process should be responsible for the enhancement of ε_r of these SnO₂ nanowires.     

Influence of seed layers on the vertical growth of ZnO nanowires

We synthesized vertically aligned ZnO nanowires on SiO₂ wafer <100> using the Au, ZnO and Au/ZnO seed layers through the physical vapor deposition process. The growth direction of ZnO nanowire was controlled by using the three different seed layers. From the XRD results, we observed the highest intensity of the (002) peak on the Au/ZnO seed layer among the three seed layers. The SEM images show that all of the ZnO nanowires have an average diameter of about 100 ~ 200 nm and a length of about 5 μm, and the nanowires grown on the Au/ZnO seed layer are oriented the most perpendicularly to the substrate surface. From the PL analysis, we observed that the intensity of broad emissions at 400-600 nm relating the green emission for the ZnO nanowires on the Au/ZnO seed layer was much weaker than that for the ZnO nanowires on the ZnO seed layer. The experiment results indicate that the selection of seed layers is important to grow nanowires vertically for the application of nanoscale devices.     

Synthesis and characterization of C3N4 nanowires and pseudocubic C3N4 polycrystalline nanoparticles

C₃N₄ nanowires and pseudocubic C₃N₄ polycrystalline nanoparticles have been synthesized by the reaction between C₃N₃Cl₃ and NaN₃ with Zn powder as catalyst. The process was carried out using a constant-pressure benzene thermal method at 40 MPa and 220 °C. The prepared nanowires have a diameter range of 3-6 nm and length range of 100-200 nm, while the diameters of the nanoparticles range from 10 nm to 40 nm. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).     

GaN nanowires grown on silicon substrates engraved using stainless-steel micro-tip

GaN nanostructures have been synthesized on silicon substrates using chemical vapor deposition. Prior to growth silicon substrates were engraved using stainless-steel micro-tips. Straight as well as twisted nanowires were observed along the engraved lines/regions. Straight nanowires were few tens of microns in length and the twisted ones were few microns in length with diameter variation between 30 nm and 100 nm. The electron microscopy analysis indicates that the nanowires were grown parallel to the c-axis and possible growth mechanism is described. Raman scattering indicates good quality of nanowires exhibiting intense E₂(high) mode and A₁(LO) mode and a huge red-shift in the mode position indicates nano-size effects. Such engraved substrates without any explicit catalyst can provide site controlled growth of nanowires and this methodology is extendable for growing nanowires of related materials.     

Synthesis of CoNi nanowires by heterogeneous nucleation in polyol

CoNi nanorwires/nanorods, depending on the loading of Ni, were prepared by heterogeneous nucleation in polyol. CoNi nanowires with the length up to 1000 nm and the diameter of about 10 nm were obtained when the loading of Ni was no more than 30%, whereas nanorods with the length of about 500 nm and the diameter of 20 nm were produced with further increasing the loading of Ni. It was revealed that the nanowires might be a core-shell structure where the core was formed by the fast reduction of Co²⁺ and the shell was constructed by the combined reduction of Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺. When used for hydrogenolysis of glycerol, the CoNi nanowires showed significantly enhanced glycerol conversion and propanediol selectivity as compared to the pure Co nanowires.     

Ultra-thin BiFeO3 nanowires prepared by a sol–gel combustion method: an investigation of its multiferroic and optical properties

Perovskite-type polycrystalline BiFeO₃ nanowires, with 150 nm in length and 10 nm in diameter, were synthesized using a sol–gel combustion method at a relative low reactive temperature. The BiFeO₃ nanowires exhibit a remarkably high saturation magnetization of 4.22 emu/g finite coercivity (177 Oe), and a enhanced Mr/Ms value about 0.22, which is independent on the synthesize temperature. The permittivity constant (ε′) and dielectric loss (0.01 at 0.4 MHz) of BiFeO₃ nanowires are very low as compared to reported BiFeO₃ bulk and film. In addition, BiFeO₃ nanowires reveal a wide band gap of 2.5 eV measured from the UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectrum, which may be useful as a photoelectrode material and photocatalytic decomposition of contamination.     

Direct synthesis of SiC nanowires by multiple reaction VS growth

β-SiC nanowires were directly synthesized by heating single-crystal silicon wafer and graphite without metal catalysts. The diameter of SiC nanowires is in the range of 10–30 nm, and the length is up to a few millimeters. Two kinds of SiC nanowires, namely pure SiC nanowires and SiC/SiO₂ composite nanowires, formed at higher temperature (the holding stage) and lower temperature (the cooling stage), respectively. A multiple-reaction model was proposed to explain the formation of SiC nanowires.     

Spray pyrolysis deposition of zinc oxide nanostructured layers

Highly structured ZnO layers comprising well-shaped hexagonal rods were prepared by spray pyrolysis deposition of zinc chloride aqueous solutions in the temperature range of 490-560 °C. The layers were characterised by SEM, XRD and SAED. A flat ZnO film evolves into the structured layer consisting of single crystalline hexagonal elongated prisms at growth temperatures close to 500 °C and above. The rise of both the growth temperature and solution concentration increases rod dimensions. The deposition of the 0.1 mol/l solution at ∼500 °C results in crystals with a diameter of 200-300 nm and length of 800 nm. However, the rods grown at 560 °C indicate a width in the range of 400-600 nm and a length of up to 2500 nm. The deposition of the 0.05 mol/l solution at 560 °C results in the rods with a diameter of 100-300 nm and a length of 1500 nm. The increase of the concentration up to 0.2 mol/l results in branched crystals, mainly tripods with a similar leg size of 600-700 nm in width and 3000 nm in length. According to XRD, the ZnO layers grown from the 0.1 mol/l solution in the temperature range of 450-560 °C are c-axis-oriented, independent of morphology. The XRD peaks intensities ratio (I₀₀₂/I₁₀₁) of the samples deposited at 560 °C changes from 9 to 1.3 by an increase in the solution concentration from 0.05 to 0.2 mol/l and indicates that c-axis orientation vanishes at higher concentrations. We showed that ZnO nanorods with the length to diameter ratio of 30 can be prepared by spray technique using indium tin oxide-covered glass substrates instead of bare glass.     

Optical studies of electrochemically synthesized CdS nanowires

In this paper, electrochemical fabrication and characterization of CdS nanowires having diameter 100 and 200 nm is reported. Nano-channels in anodic alumina membrane were utilized as template. Morphological study of nanowires was made using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). UV–visible absorption and laser induced time resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy were used for optical characterization. UV–visible absorption depicts that, there is slight increase in band gap of nanowires with decrease in diameter of nanowires. PL measurements indicate emission band peak of 435 and 420 nm in case of 200 and 100 nm wires respectively. These studies are very important regarding the synthesis and optoelectronic applications of CdS nanowires.     

Fabrication of GaN nanowires and nanorods catalyzed with tantalum

Single-crystalline GaN nanowires and nanorods have been fabricated through ammoniating Ga₂O₃ films catalyzed with tantalum (Ta) by RF magnetron sputtering, and microstructure, morphology and optical properties were investigated in particular. The results indicate that the nanowires have a hexagonal wurtzite structure with size about 50 nm in diameter and more than ten microns in length, however, the nanorods are rod-like structures with smooth surface and 100–300 nm in diameter. The growth direction of these nanostructures are perpendicular to the (100) crystal plane. The photoluminescence spectrum at room temperature exhibits a strong UV light emission band centered at 364 nm.     

Raman studies of selenium nanowires under high pressure

The selenium nanowires with diameter of 70 nm and length of 40 μm were synthesized by a facile solution method. High-pressure behavior of Se nanowires has been investigated by in situ Raman scattering up to 20.2 GPa at room temperature. A reversible phase transition from hexagonal to monoclinic occurs at 18.1 GPa. This transition pressure is higher than that of 14.0 GPa for bulk Se. The intrinsic geometry and/or the increasing energy band gap of Se nanowires are considered to contribute to the increase of transition pressure.     

Ultraviolet photodetectors made from SnO2 nanowires

SnO₂ nanowires can be synthesized on alumina substrates and formed into an ultraviolet (UV) photodetector. The photoelectric current of the SnO₂ nanowires exhibited a rapid photo-response as a UV lamp was switched on and off. The ratio of UV-exposed current to dark current has been investigated. The SnO₂ nanowires were synthesized by a vapor-liquid-solid process at a temperature of 900 °C. It was found that the nanowires were around 70-100 nm in diameter and several hundred microns in length. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) image indicated that the nanowires grew along the [200] axis as a single crystallinity. Cathodoluminescence (CL), thin-film X-ray diffractometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize the as-synthesized nanowires.