title: Continuous-flow mass production of silicon nanowires via substrate-enhanced metal-catalyzed electroless etching of silicon with dissolved oxygen as an oxidant.
abstract: Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are attracting growing interest due to their unique properties and promising applications in photovoltaic devices, thermoelectric devices, lithium-ion batteries, and biotechnology. Low-cost mass production of SiNWs is essential for SiNWs-based nanotechnology commercialization. However, economic, controlled large-scale production of SiNWs remains challenging and rarely attainable. Here, we demonstrate a facile strategy capable of low-cost, continuous-flow mass production of SiNWs on an industrial scale. The strategy relies on substrate-enhanced metal-catalyzed electroless etching (MCEE) of silicon using dissolved oxygen in aqueous hydrofluoric acid (HF) solution as an oxidant. The distinct advantages of this novel MCEE approach, such as simplicity, scalability and flexibility, make it an attractive alternative to conventional MCEE methods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Beijing Key Laboratory of Energy Conversion and Storage Materials, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Beijing Key Laboratory of Energy Conversion and Storage Materials, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Kui-Qing
authors.initials: KQ
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Beijing Key Laboratory of Energy Conversion and Storage Materials, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Beijing Key Laboratory of Energy Conversion and Storage Materials, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Beijing Key Laboratory of Energy Conversion and Storage Materials, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Ling
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiang-Min
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM) and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shuit-Tong
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Lee