Title: A facile and reliable solvothermal route for SnO microstructures with different morphologies

Authors: Guang Sun; Fengxiao Qi; Yanwei Li; Naiteng Wu; Jianliang Cao; Hari Bala; Zhanying Zhang

Addresses: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China ' School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China ' School of Chemistry and Physics, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China ' School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China ' School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China ' School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China ' School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China

Abstract: SnO micro/nanostructures with different morphologies have been successfully synthesised through a facile solvothermal method by using SnCl₂•2H₂O and NaOH as raw materials, and absolute ethanol as solvent. The as-prepared samples are characterised by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results indicate that the morphology of SnO can be controlled by simply changing the Sn²⁺/OH⁻ molar ratio. Flower-like SnO hierarchical microstructures assembled by nanosheets with thickness about 200-500 nm can be prepared at 140°C when the molar ratio of Sn²⁺/OH⁻ is 1:3. Assemblies of cubic-like building blocks and hexahedral particles in micrometer size are obtained when the molar ratio of Sn²⁺/OH⁻ is adjusted to be 1:3.5 and 1:4, respectively. The possible formation mechanism of SnO with different morphology is discussed.

Keywords: solvothermal synthesis; SnO; hierarchical microstructure; X-ray diffraction; XRD; scanning electron microscopy; SEM; transmission electron microscopy; TEM; nanostructures; nanotechnology; semiconducting metal oxides; tin oxides; stannous oxide; nanosheets.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNM.2013.056051

International Journal of Nanomanufacturing, 2013 Vol.9 No.3/4, pp.261 - 269

Received: 10 Oct 2012
Accepted: 08 Jan 2013
Published online: 31 Mar 2014 *

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