The β-SiC/SiO2 core-shell nanowires with the "stem-and-node" structure were synthesized in the presence of cerium oxide by the carbothermal reduction of the starch-SiO2 hybrids gel.The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),high-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM) and energy-dispersed X-ray(EDX).The results showed that the nanowires consisted of a 20-35 nm diameter crystalline β-SiC core wrapped with a 2-5 nm amorphous SiO2 shell,with their lengths up to several micrometers.The axes of nanowires lay along the [111] direction with a clean surface possessing a high density of planar defects.Base on the experimental results,it was suggested that the novel β-SiC/SiO2 core-shell coaxial nanowires with the "stem-and-node" structure were formed via the Vapor-liquid-solid(VLS) growth mechanism.
A sol-gel process catalyzed by oxalic acid was used for the preparation of SiC precursor from raw materials of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and sucrose. The precursor thus obtained was homogeneous. Sintered with a certain heating program in an argon flow, the precursor was converted into the high surface area SiC. The high specific surface area silicon carbide was used as catalyst support for ammonia synthesis. The effect of the surface of the support, promoter and the amount of Ru on the catalytic activity for ammonia synthesis was studied. The results show that when the high specific surface area SiC of 113 m2·g-1 is used as support, the prepared SiC-supported ruthenium catalyst has a relatively high activity(11.85%) under Ru 4wt%, Ba 4wt%, K 8wt%, 475 ℃, 10.0 MPa and 10 000 h-1.
