Thermal production of silicon nanofibers

Many research projects aim to produce semiconductor nanowires used in electrical equipment needed in many fields such as energy, electricity, health, etc. However, synthetic methods are usually relatively complex, It is ' expensive ' and very difficult to apply in large quantities in industrial production.

A team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, has proposed an interesting method for producing silicon nanowires using electrolysis . This is a fairly familiar mechanism for dissolved electrolytes and deposition of materials by electrochemical means that does not place an electric current from outside creating an auto-redox reaction inside. solution. In the case of the above, there is a stimulus displacement with direct current from the silicon which leads to the reduction of the ion on the surface of the sample. This method simply dips a sheet of silicon that is perpendicular to the other silicon. The diameter of the silicon filaments varies from 20-30 nanometers (nanometers). The characteristic of this nanofibre is that it has a relatively rough wall, as opposed to what is obtained by other methods of production. .

This feature is of great interest because this particular silicon nanoparticle is an important source of reinforcement (the 100th element) in the thermal properties of nanofibres. In fact, good electrical conductivity is approximately equal to that of the fibers being used, when their thermal conductivity decreases to near the ambient temperature. Power in the production of electricity. Although the origin of the effect is not fully understood, the material is easy to produce by the method and finally it is cheap enough to be exploited for the thermal energy industry. electricity.

The heat exchangers measured by Berkeley researchers have not yet satisfied them, but they think that they can be applied optimistically on many factors, such as the diameter of the nanowire (which can be reduced to below 50nm), the gravitation of the wire surface, or the addition of a silicon activator.

Electron microscopy scans components used to determine the thermal properties of nanowires
(Photo: Akram I. Boukai et al., Nature 451 168).