Compaction of nanosilicon pellets and sol-deposited films via high-vacuum annealing

The density of nanoparticle composites influences their electronic properties. We used X-ray fluorescence- and UVVIS spectroscopy-based techniques to demonstrate, that solprocessed nanosilicon films were friable, however their density was improved up to ∼1 g cm−3 with high-vacuum annealing due to compaction of the nanosilicon particle packing. According to SEM data, the size and shape of nanoparticles remained unchanged after the annealing, except for a silicon whisker growth observed at 1000 °C.