Preparation and photoluminescence of high density SiOx nanowires with Fe3O4 nanoparticles catalyst

Large scale, high density SiOx nanowires have been synthesized using a novel Fe3O4 nanoparticles catalyst. The lengths of SiOx nanowires are in the range of several tens to hundreds of micrometers, and the diameters of nanowires are 20–80 nm. Transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy show that the SiOx nanowires are amorphous, and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry analysis reveals that SiOx nanowires consist of Si and O elements in an atomic ratio of approximately x = 1.4–1.7. The vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism is the main formation mechanism of SiOx nanowires. The SiOx nanowires have two broad photoluminescence peaks at about 405 nm and 465 nm when the 250 nm ultraviolet fluorescent light excitation is applied at room temperature. The SiOx nanowires with good photoluminescence properties are promising candidates for ultraviolet–blue optical emitting devices.