Photoluminescence performance of SiC nanowires, whiskers and agglomerated nanoparticles synthesized from activated carbon

Highly uniform silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires, whiskers and agglomerated nanoparticles with nanostructures were synthesized when SiC nanowires were prepared using activated carbon. The three kinds of nanostructures experienced the same preparation process and the post-treatment process. They are perfect candidates to study the morphology effect of SiC on their optical properties. The three nanostructures, which were different from previous reports, are of the same structural defect state and, hence, similar photoluminescence properties. Large blueshifts of strong light emission to all the as-received nanostructures appeared, which were mainly attributed to abundant structure defects and little to the quantum size effect. The diffusion growth mechanism of carbon atoms is proposed to interpret the synthesis process in the absence of oxygen-containing gases and catalysts.