Growth silicon-based nanowires

Zhang JG et al (2010) Vapor-induced solid-liquid-solid process for silicon-based nanowire growth. J Power Sources 195 1691-1697... 

However, it is unclear what the growth mechanisms are because no Si feedstock was fed in the gas form, which is required for the tip-growth model to work. In the following, we will discuss the composition and growth mechanisms of the nanowires made in this work, and show that the Co nanoparticles may play a dual-catalytic role by helping form gaseous silicon species and catalyze the growth of Si-based nanowires. 

The nanostructures can be deposited into the nano-pores by electrodeposition or sol-gel deposition methods. The advantages of being low cost and repeatable, together with their potential compatibility with silicon technologies, make these nanostructure synthesis procedures interesting. Despite its simplicity, template-based growth is characterized by the production of polycrystalline nanowires, which can limit their potential for both fundamental studies and applications. 

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