Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) offer an ideal basis to study the effects of quantum confinement and its possible applications due to its predominant role in semiconductor technology. The fabrication of the SiNWs has been extensively studied, but mass production of single-crystal SiNWs is still both challeging and nessasary. We report chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth of silicon nanowires on a gram scale by using the two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal mesoporous solid SBA-15 as a template. This new method for growing SiNWs maximizes the number of catalytic metal nanoparticles by using a 3D silica host, whose surface area is much greater than that of the conventional 2D substrate, which results in the mass production of single-crystal SiNWs.

Keywords: Silicon nanowires, CVD, Mesoporous solid