Self-catalytic growth of tin oxide nanowires by chemical vapor deposition process

Abstract

We report on the synthesis of tin oxide (SnO2) nanowires by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Commercially bought SnO nanopowders were vaporized at 1050∘C for 30 minutes with argon gas continuously passing through the system. The assynthesized products were characterized using UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The band gap of the nanowires determined from UV-visible absorption was around 3.7 eV.The SEM micrographs revealed “wool-like” structure which contains nanoribbons and nanowires with liquid droplets at the tips. Nanowires typically have diameter in the range of 50–200nm and length 10–100 𝜇m. These nanowires followed the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth mechanism.