Abstract:

The work presented is the result of a year studying the growth of inorganic nanowires by floating catalyst chemical vapour deposition
(FCCVD) with the objective of applying this technique to the synthesis of metal oxide nanowires. The differences between substrated-CVD and FCCVD techniques are assessed to better understand the advantages and challenges to overcome in the transition to a substrate-free synthesis, where the nanowire growth is induced by the so-called vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. The results of SiC nanowires synthesis are discussed as a first approach for the development of a fabrication strategy to be applied to metal oxides nanowires. As a final section, an outlook of the project is presented including the improvement of the strategy and its application to the synthesis of MnOx nanowires, selected as an inexpensive and environmentally friendly alternative in electrodes for energy storage devices.