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Large-scale highly aligned silica nanofibres were produced on silicon substrates. The diameters of these nanofibres vary from 50 to 100 nm and the lengths are up to several millimetres. Transmission electron microscopy and selected-area electron diffraction reveal that the fibres are in an amorphous state. The growth of silica nanofibres is probably controlled by a vapour–solid process. Gas-phase SiO seems to play the key role in the synthesis, serving as a transportation medium.
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Dai et al. (2002) studied this question.
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