Ball milled SnO2: a modified vapor source for growing nanostructures

The evaporation behaviour of a ball milled SnO2 powder has been investigated. It is observed that the milled powder starts to evaporate at the temperatures above 950 °C while the unmilled SnO2 powder does not generate any vapor at this temperature. The effect is likely to be related to structural changes in the milled material and, particularly, a certain degree of reduction of the SnO2 powder in the course of milling. The milled powder can be used as a vapor source for producing various types of nanostructures of SnO2.