Large-scale synthesis of In2O3 nanowires

In2O3 nanowires have been successfully fabricated on a large scale from indium particles by thermal evaporation at 1030 °C. The as-synthesized products were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). SEM and TEM images show that these nanowires are uniform with diameters of about 60–120 nm and lengths of about 15–25 μm. XRD and selected-area electron diffraction analysis together indicate that these In2O3 nanowires crystallize in a cubic structure of the bixbyite Mn2O3 (I) type (also called the C-type rare-earth oxide structure). The growth mechanism of these nanowires is also discussed.