Preparation and structure of magnesium oxide coated indium nanowires

Indium nanowires embedded in rectangular nanorods of MgO were synthesized by using the boron oxide-buffer catalytic growth method. The MgO nanorods were found to present a core of pure indium 15–20 nm in diameter. Electron diffraction analysis indicates that the embedded indium nanowires exhibit the tetragonal structure of pure indium and that the outer rectangular nanorods are face-centered cubic MgO. The orientation relationship between the indium and its MgO shell is determined to be (1̄ 1 0)MgO//(1 0 0)In and (0 0 1)MgO//(0 1̄ 1)In.