Direct gas-phase synthesis of single-phase β-FeSi2 nanoparticles

Structural and electronic properties ofβ-FeSi2nanoparticles: The role of stacking fault domains

“…The peak positions in the diffraction patterns are consistent with those obtained from macroscopic x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements [14] and with expected values for the β-FeSi 2 phase.…”

“…This requirement applies not only to the crystal structure itself but also to the local chemical compositions of the NPs. In a recent paper, we demonstrated that the gas phase reactions that take place during preparation in a hot wall reactor can be well controlled, although the kinetics of the precursors silane and iron pentacarbonyl differ considerably [14]. As a result, the production of phase-pure β-FeSi 2 NPs was demonstrated.…”

“…The choice of synthesis parameters, such as the ratio of reactive gases, the temperature, and the residence time within the reaction zone, was found to be crucial for the fabrication of Fe-Si NPs in the desired β phase. Further details about the preparation of the NPs are reported elsewhere [14].…”

“…However, the different reaction kinetics of the Fe and Si precursor gases have impeded its successful fabrication. Recently, Bywalez et al [14] succeeded in the preparation of free-standing β-FeSi 2 nanoparticles (NPs) using chemical vapor synthesis in a hot wall reactor.…”

Synthesis and characterization of β-phase iron silicide nano-particles by chemical reduction

“…Dahal et al [20] has reported synthesis technique for iron silicide using chemical reaction between iron pentacarbonyl (Fe(CO) 5 ) and silicon tetrachloride (SiCl 4 ). On the other hand, Bywalez et al [21] realized gas phase synthesis of ␤-FeSi 2 nano-particles by controlled thermal decomposition of iron pentacarbonyl and monosilane at about 900 • C. Although these synthesis techniques are quite novel and contemporary, their significant draw backs are the generation of by-product phases such as -FeSi, Fe 3 Si, ␣-FeSi 2 and Fe 5 Si 3 [20,21]. The gas phase synthesis technique developed by Bywalez et al requires high temperature in the synthesis of ␤-FeSi 2 [21] as well as restricted, expensive and toxic chemicals like iron pentacarbonyl, silane gas are used for the synthesis of iron di-silicide [20,21].…”