Upgraded Silicon Nanowires by Metal-Assisted Etching of Metallurgical Silicon A New Route to Nanostr

Advanced Materials 25(23) 3187-3191

https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201300973

Xiaopeng Li , Yanjun Xiao , Jin Ho Bang , Dominik Lausch , Sylke Meyer , Paul-Tiberiu Miclea , Jin-Young Jung , Stefan L. Schweizer , Jung-Ho Lee*, Ralf B. Wehrspohn*

Graphical Abstract

Through metal-assisted chemical etching (MaCE), superior purification of dirty Si is observed, from 99.74 to 99.9884% for metallurgical Si and from 99.999772 to 99.999899% for upgraded metallurgical Si. In addition, large area of silicon nanowires (SiNW) are fabricated. The purification effect induces a ∼35% increase in photocurrent for SiNW based photoelectrochemical cell.