Self-catalyst growth of EuB6 nanowires and nanotubes

Europium hexaboride (EuB6) nanowires and nanotubes have been successfully fabricated with self-catalyst method using europium (Eu) powders and boron trichloride (BCl3) gas mixed with hydrogen and argon. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the compositions, morphologies, and structures of the samples. Our results show that EuB6 nanowires are 60–300 nm thick and 1–10 μm long. TEM reveals that the nanowires are highly crystalline with growth direction of [1 0 0]. In our experiment, EuB6 nanotubes have also been observed. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns identify that the EuB6 nanotubes are polycrystalline in nature. A growth mechanism based on the self-catalyst process is proposed for the formation of nanowires.