Effects of Fe and Ni on the yield and morphology of the 1D SiC nanostructures prepared by chemical vapor reaction

We report the effects of Fe and Ni on the yield and morphology of the 1D SiC nanostructures prepared by chemical vapor reaction at 1300 °C. The achieved products were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results indicated that the obtained 1D nanostructures were composed of high-purity β-SiC single crystals with growth along the [1 1 1] direction, The yield of the products was efficiently increased under Fe or Ni- assisted condition compared to the non-catalyst condition, 1D nanostructures with two typical uniform morphologies (nanorods, nanowires) were, respectively, obtained under Fe- and Ni- assisted conditions. We suppose that Fe and Ni nanoscale drops have played different roles in the vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) growth process, and the possible growth mechanisms were proposed and analyzed in detail.