Morphological control of tungsten-assisted β-Si3N4 nanowhiskers: Synthesis, mechanical and photoluminescence properties

► β-Si3N4 with different controlled morphologies has been synthesized by SHS process. ► Particle size of tungsten powders determines the diameters of anisotropic crystals. ► Elastic bending modulus of individual whiskers was measured by in situ TEM technique. ► The photoluminescence study of nanowires confirmed a good crystalline structure.