In this paper, a new nanomaterial , α-Si 3 N 4 nanobelts assembled by high density nanorods were prepared via the crystallization of amorphous Si 3 N 4 at 1450 °C for 12 h. The as-synthesized nanobelts exhibited a width of ∼900 nm and a thickness of ∼150 nm, and a depressed linear region in the central. α-Si 3 N 4 nanorods on the nanobelts had a width of 8–16 nm and a length of 400–450 nm. The nanorods were single-crystal, growing along (101) plane. The nanobelt appeared to be initiated by α-Si 3 N 4 nanorods constantly growing on the both sides of a nanowire which was caused by secondary nucleation and the growth of Si 3 N 4 microcrystals . Growth mechanism related to the formation of the nanobelts was analyzed in detail on the basis of vapor-solid mechanism and secondary nucleation. The current work would provide new insights into α-Si 3 N 4 nanobelts assembled by nanorods which play an important role in nanoscale devices and show widespread potential applications due to their special morphology.
In this paper, α-Si 3 N 4 nanobelts assembled by Si 3 N 4 microcrystals on the nanowires were synthesized from amorphous Si 3 N 4 powders that were prepared by thermolysis of silicon diimide powders. By prolonging the heating time at 1550 °C, the amorphous Si 3 N 4 powders were converted to hexagonal phase α-Si 3 N 4 microcrystals which were adhered to the surface of nanowires to obtain α-Si 3 N 4 nanobelts. The obtained α-Si 3 N 4 nanobelts were hollow in the centre with a width of ∼850 nm and a thickness of ∼150 nm. Microcrystals were deposited on the surface of 2–3 parallel nanowires. The diameter of the Si 3 N 4 microcrystals was 30–230 nm, and the diameter of the nanowires was 50–100 nm. Evaporation of the amorphous Si 3 N 4 powders released Si vapour and N vapour, which led to the formation of the Si 3 N 4 microcrystals. The nanowires grew on the surface of the amorphous Si 3 N 4 powders due to the nucleation and diffusion of Si and N atoms of amorphous Si 3 N 4 powders. The growth mechanism of the products with unique morphology can be considered as a combination of vapour-solid mechanism and secondary nucleation process.
Silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) particles with different morphologies have been used in many fields. In this work, α-Si 3 N 4 whiskers and granular particles with high-phase purity were successfully tailored by the controllable crystallisation process of amorphous Si 3 N 4 powders under different N 2 pressure. Impressively, α-Si 3 N 4 whiskers were prepared by simply heat treating amorphous Si 3 N 4 powders at 1550 °C for 2 h under the low N 2 pressure of 0.2 MPa, whereas equiaxed α-Si 3 N 4 particles with uniform size of ~280 nm were obtained under an elevated N 2 pressure of 2.0 MPa. With the evaluated N 2 pressures and temperatures, large scale α-Si 3 N 4 whiskers or equiaxed α-Si 3 N 4 particles could be produced. The growth mechanisms of the α-Si 3 N 4 particles with distinct morphologies were rationally proposed, and these consist of two main growth processes. First, amorphous Si 3 N 4 powders decomposed into Si(g) and N 2 (g) under high-temperature treatment. Subsequently, N 2 (g) dominated the recombination of the evaporated chemical with the Si 3 N 4 molecule. The initial N 2 concentration, which plays a key role in tailoring the shape and size of products, was controlled by the N 2 pressure.