Synthesis of aluminium borate nanowires by sol–gel method

Abstract A sol–gel process followed by annealing was employed to fabricate single crystal aluminium borate (Al 4 B 2 O 9 and Al 18 B 4 O 33 ) nanowires. The diameter of Al 4 B 2 O 9 nanowires synthesized at 750 °C annealing is ranging from 7 to 17 nm, and that of Al 18 B 4 O 33 nanowires synthesized at 1050 °C annealing is about 38 nm. Instead of the well-known vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism, self-catalytic mechanism was used to explain the growth of the nanowires.