Electric-pulse discharge as a novel technique to synthesize β-SiC nano-crystallites from liquid-phase organic precursors

β-SiC nano-crystallites have been prepared by electric pulses discharged in liquid-phase organic precursors. The composition and crystal structure of the products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, field emission scanning electronic and transmission electron microscopy. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the sample synthesized from the precursor (hexamethyl disilane) is composed of uniform grains with only 8 nm, while the one synthesize from the other precursor (dimethyl silicone oil) is of better crystalline structure with average grain size 22 nm, which may be attributed to discharge in liquid-phase source and short discharge intervals.