Growth of tapered SiC nanowires on flexible carbon fabric : toward field emission applications
Author
Wu, Renbing
Zhou, Kun
Wei, Jun
Huang, Yizhong
Su, Fei
Chen, Jianjun
Wang, Liuying
Date of Issue
2012School
School of Materials Science and Engineering
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Research Centre
Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology
Abstract
Tapered silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires were directly grown on the surface of flexible carbon fabric by a chemical vapor deposition process. The products were systemically characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected area electronic diffraction, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results revealed that the tapered nanowires were of single crystalline β-SiC phase with the growth direction along [111] and had a feature of zigzag faceting over the wire surfaces. Such faceting was created by a quasi-periodic placement of twinning boundaries along the wire axis, which can be explained by surface energy minimization during the growth process. Based on the characterizations and thermodynamics analysis, the Fe-assisted vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) growth mechanism of tapered SiC nanowires was discussed. Furthermore, field emission measurements showed a very low turn-on field at 1.2 V μm–1 and a high field-enhancement factor of 3368. This study shows that SiC nanowires on carbon fabric have potential applications in electronic devices and flat panel displays.
Type
Journal Article
Series/Journal Title
The journal of physical chemistry C
Collections
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp3028935
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