A facile and environmentally friendly NaCl nonaqueous ionic liquid route to prepare crystalline β-CaSiO3 nanowires

We described an environmentally friendly and facile NaCl nonaqueous ionic liquid route for the first time to synthesize β-CaSiO3 nanowires. β-CaSiO3 nanowires were prepared by annealing precursor calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) nanostructures in NaCl nonaqueous ionic liquid, in which the precursor CSH nanostructures were first prepared by a facile one-step, solid state reaction, ground with both NaCl and surfactant nonyl phenyl ether (9) (NP-9), and heated at 850 °C for 2 h. β-CaSiO3 nanowires were characterized by XRD, TEM and HRTEM. The comparative experiments have been conducted systemically to investigate the growth mechanism of β-CaSiO3 nanowires, and the roles of salt NaCl nonaqueous ionic liquid and NP-9 on the formation of β-CaSiO3 nanowires. The results demonstrated that both salt NaCl nonaqueous ionic liquid and surfactant NP-9 played key roles on the formation of β-CaSiO3 nanowires. A rational growth mechanism of β-CaSiO3 nanowires has been proposed on the basis of experimental results.

► A facile and environmentally friendly route was described for β-CaSiO3 nanowires.
► Nanowires were prepared by annealing calcium silicate hydrate in NaCl ionic liquid.
► The β-CaSiO3 nanowires grew in NaCl nonaqueous ionic liquid.
► The NaCl nonaqueous ionic liquid played a key role for the formation of nanowires.