Synthesis of silicon carbide nanotubes from carbon nanotubes and silicon dioxide by microwaves irradiation

Abstract

In this study, an attempt to fabricate silicon carbide nanotubes (SiCNTs) from the reactions between multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and silicon dioxide (SiO2) is presented. Shape Memory Synthesis (SMS) method was employed in this study. The mixtures of the MWCNTs and SiO2 (ratio 3:1) was irradiated by microwaves of different powers, namely 400W, 600W and 800W in a domestic microwaves oven operating at 2.45GHz for 30 minutes. Microscopy analysis revealed that the tubular structures of the starting materials were retained after microwaves irradiation and the X-ray diffraction analysis showed that significant amount of SiC was formed in this study.