Preparation of b -SiC nanorods with and without amorphous SiO 2 wrapping layers was achieved by carbothermal reduction of sol-gel derived silica xerogels containing carbon nanoparticles. The b -SiC nanorods with amorphous SiO 2 wrapping layers were obtained by carboreduction at 1650 ± C for 1.5 h, and at the end of 1.5 h the temperature was steeply raised to 1800 ± C and held for 30 min; they are typically up to 20 mm in length. The diameters of the center thinner b -SiC nanorods within the amorphous SiO 2 wrapping layers are in the range 10-30 nm, while the outer diameters of the corresponding amorphous SiO 2 wrapping layers are between 20 and 70 nm. The b -SiC nanorods without amorphous SiO 2 wrapping layers were produced by carbothermal reduction only at 1650 ± C for 2.5 h, and their diameters are in agreement with those of the center thinner b -SiC nanorods wrapped in amorphous SiO 2 layers. Large quantities of SiC rod nuclei and the nanometer-sized nucleus sites on carbon nanoparticles are both favorable to the formation of much thinner b -SiC nanorods. The formation of the outer amorphous SiO 2 wrapping layer is from the combination reaction of decomposed SiO vapor and O 2 .
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