Assembly of carbide nanostructures at low temperature

We have developed a simple and efficient technique for the assembly of carbide nanostructures at low temperature, such as SiC, TiC, ZrC, B ₄C, Mo₂C nanowires, hollow nanospheres, nanocables, or nanoparticles. The morphology can be efficiently assembled by verifying the experimental parameters, such as reaction temperature, source materials, or using catalyst. The growth of carbide hollow nanospheres (SiC, TiC, ZrC) may be explained by the template-confined effect of the intermediate carbon hollow spheres, while the growth of SiC nanowires and nanocables are controlled by the VLS mechanism and TiC, ZrC nanowires by the template-confined effect of the intermediate carbon nanotubes.