Preparation of ZnO nanoparticles localized on SiC@SiO2 nanocables by a physical templating method

Impregnation of interlaced SiC@SiO2 nanocables (SiC NWs sheathed by SiO2 coatings) into a ZnO sol at 0 °C yielded, after thermal treatment up to 600 °C under argon, SiC@SiO2@ZnO nanostructures. These novel nanostructures consist in SiC@SiO2 nanocables covered by numerous agglomerated ZnO nanoparticles. The latter are less than 5 nm in diameter. This result is to our knowledge the first example of a physical templating technique involving SiC-based nanowires. Moreover, we have obtained localized ZnO nanoparticles. This localization can be of interests for a further study of their physical properties. When a similar experiment was conducted with pure SiC nanowires, there was no interaction between the nanowires (NWs) and the solution, resulting in the formation of agglomerated ZnO NPs embedded into the 3D NWs network.