Magnesium catalyzed growth of SiO2 hierarchical nanostructures by a thermal evaporation process

SiO2 hierarchical nanostructures consisting of a wire-like main stem and lots of rod-like sub-branches have been synthesized by a magnesium catalyzed thermal evaporation process. It is indicated that magnesium plays a critical role in the synthesis of SiO2 hierarchical nanostructures including promotion for SiO evaporation and hierarchical-like growth of SiO2. Moreover, the photoluminescence (PL) analysis of the SiO2 hierarchical nanostructures reveals that blue and ultraviolet (UV) emissions are detected, which are different from those of other SiO2 nanostructures. Finally, the growth mechanism and PL emission of SiO2 hierarchical nanostructures have been preliminarily discussed