High-density ZnO nanorods can be grown on pregrown one-dimensional nanostructures via thermal chemical vapor deposition of Zn at a low temperature of 500 °C, producing various heterostructures. We demonstrate it using carbon nanotubes, GaN nanowires, GaP nanowires, SiC nanowires, and SiC core−C shell coaxial nanocables. The diameter of ZnO nanorods is in the range of 80−150 nm, and the maximum length is about 3 μm. The ZnO nanorods align vertically on the walls of 1D nanostructures, with a uniform growth direction of [001]. We suggest a vapor−liquid−solid growth mechanism that Zn vapor deposits on the 1D nanostructures and produces the outer layers encapsulating the 1D nanostructures; the ZnO nanorods are grown out from the outer layers of the nanocable structure. The length and density of ZnO nanorods are controllable by the deposition time. All of these heterostructures exhibit intense UV photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence. The green emission intensity is correlated with the density of the ZnO nanorods.
Gallium nitride nanowires coated with boron carbonitride layers were directly synthesized by thermal chemical deposition using the reaction of gallium, gallium oxide, boron oxide, and carbon nanotubes under an ammonia atmosphere. The average diameter is 30 nm, and the length is up to 1 mm. Less than 20 graphitic sheets coat the single-crystalline wurtzite-structured gallium nitride nanowires. The graphitic outerlayers are composed of boron, carbon, and nitrogen atoms with a ratio of about 1:2:1. The photoluminescence exhibits a broad band in the energy range 2.1−3.6 eV, suggesting a contribution of the emission from the graphitic boron carbonitride outerlayers.