Synthesis of flower-like silica microstructures by a simple thermal evaporation method

Abstract

Novel flower-like silica microstructures have been synthesized through heating silicon, silicon monoxide and active carbon mixed powders under an H2/Ar (3%) atmosphere at 1050°C without assistance of any metal catalyst. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer (EDS) analyses reveal that the wires are amorphous and consist only of silicon oxide, generated from the reaction of CO with SiC. A possible growth model based on both of vapor-solid (VS) and the Oxide-assisted growth (OAG) mechanism has been proposed to explain this phenomenon.