Synthesis of Si nanowire/multiwalled carbon nanotube core-shell nanocomposites

Si nanowire/multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposite arrays were synthesized. Vertically aligned Si nanowire arrays were fabricated by Ag nanodendrite-assisted wet chemical etching of n-type wafers using HF/AgNO₃ solution. The composite structure was synthesized by formation of a sheath of carbon multilayers on a Si nanowire template surface through a thermal CVD process under various conditions. The results of Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and high resolution transmission electron microcopy demonstrate that the obtained nanocomposite has a Si nanowire core/carbon nanotube shell structure. The remarkable feature of the proposed method is that the vertically aligned Si nanowire was encapsulated with a multiwalled carbon nanotube without metal catalysts, which is important for nanodevice fabrication. It can be expected that the introduction of Si nanowires into multiwalled carbon nanotubes may significantly alter their electronic and mechanical properties, and may even result in some unexpected material properties. The proposed method possesses great potential for fabricating other semiconductor/CNT nanocomposites.