Synthesis and characterization of hollow Si–SiC composite nanospheres from hollow SiO2/C nanospheres

Abstract Hollow SiO 2 nanospheres were fabricated by a modified Stöber method. Hollow Si–SiC composite nanospheres were firstly prepared by reducing the hollow SiO 2 nanospheres by a low temperature magnesiothermic reduction method. In the final samples of hollow Si–SiC composite nanospheres, the hollow nanosphere structure of the precursor was well preserved. SiO 2 nanospheres and Si–SiC composite nanospheres with hollow structure were observed by Scanning electron microscopy and Transmission electron microscopy. Nitrogen absorption–desorption measurement indicated that Si–SiC composite nanospheres had large BET surface area of 150.33 m 2 /g and pores about 12.9 nm, and the hollow structure was indirectly confirmed. X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and TG-DSC were also carried out to characterize microstructure and composition of the final samples. Graphical Abstract