Controlled synthesis and possible formation mechanism of leaf-shaped SnS2 nanocrystals

A sort of novel leaf-shaped SnS2 nanocrystals have been synthesized by controlled reaction of CH3CH2OCS2K with SnCl4·5H2O in aqueous solution in the absence of surfactant. The leaf-shaped nanocrystals consist of very thin sheets with several microns in length and 100–300 nm in width. The structure, composition, and morphology of the as-prepared leaf-shaped SnS2 nanocrystals were characterized by XRD, Raman spectra, XPS, and FE-SEM, respectively. Elemental analysis, FT-IR spectra, and TEM were further used to study the formation mechanism of the leaf-shaped SnS2 nanocrystals. A possible mechanism of producing lamellae – breaking into nanosheets – rolling and assembling was suggested for the leaf-shaped SnS2 nanocrystals formation based on experimental results.