Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

The University of Western Ontario

Yong Zhang

Mei Cai

Xueliang Sun

Ruying Li

Mohammad Norouzi Banis

An arrangement of elongated nanowires that include titanium silicide or tungsten silicide may be grown on the exterior surfaces of many individual electrically conductive microfibers of much larger diameter. Each of the nanowires is structurally defined by an elongated, centralized titanium silicide or tungsten silicide nanocore that terminates in a distally spaced gold particle and which is co-axially surrounded by a removable amorphous nanoshell. A gold-directed catalytic growth mechanism initiated during a low pressure chemical vapor deposition process is used to grow the nanowires uniformly along the entire length and circumference of the electrically conductive microfibers where growth is intended. The titanium silicide- or tungsten silicide-based nanowires can be used in a variety electrical, electrochemical, and semiconductor applications.

Microfiber supported metal silicide nanowires

Rare earth element(s) doped alumina nanowires are formed by a thermal evaporation method in which vapor from aluminum powder and vapor from a rare earth element compound (such as an halide) are reacted in an oxygen-containing inert gas stream to form alumina which deposits as alumina nanowires and as a rare earth element and oxygen-containing material that deposits with and/or on the alumina nanowires. Where the RE-doped alumina nanowires are to be used as catalyst supports, a catalyst material, such as platinum, may be deposited as small particles on the nanowires.

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London, Canada

Yong Zhang