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 as-synthesized 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 50–200 nm and length 10–100 μm. These nanowires followed the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth mechanism.