Chemical vapor deposition derived ultralong SiC nanofibers: structural characterization and growth mechanism

In this study, the ultralong SiC nanofibers (SiC NFs) were synthesized through the sol–gel method assisted the chemical vapor deposition technique. The scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman, Fourier transform infrared, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques were systematically employed to investigate the microstructure, morphology, and phase composition of the as-prepared products. The results demonstrated that the as-obtained products were β-SiC nanofibers with face-centered cubic crystal structure. Meanwhile, the ultralong SiC NFs present an average diameter of about 18 nm and a length up to several hundreds of micrometers and grew along the [1 1 1] direction with a planar stacking faults. In addition, we also investigated the formation mechanism and growth process of the ultralong SiC NFs. The successful preparation of such ultralong SiC NFs provides new idea for fabricating of other silicon-based ultralong nanofibers.