Growth of silicon nanowires in aqueous solution under atmospheric pressure

A new method for growing silicon nanowires was presented. They were grown in an aqueous solution at a temperature of 85 oC under atmospheric pressure by using sodium methylsiliconate as a water‐soluble silicon precursor. The structure, morphology, and composition of the as‐grown nanowires were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X‐ray spectrometry. It was also confirmed by X‐ray powder diffraction and Raman spectroscopy that the silicon nanowire has hexagonal structure. It was possible to grow the crystalline silicon nanowires at low temperature under atmospheric pressure because potassium iodide, which was used as a gold etchant, sufficiently increased the surface energy and reactivity of gold as a metal catalyst with the Si precursors even at low temperature.