High-yield solvothermal synthesis of single-crystalline tin oxide tetragonal prism nanorods

The tetragonal prism SnO2 nanorods with the rutile structure have been successfully synthesized by a simple solvothermal method from high concentration precursors without any surfactant. Their sizes, morphologies and structure were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), select-area electron diffraction (SAED) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The SnO2 nanorods obtained by the solvothermal method exhibit higher crystalline quality and better dispersion compared with the samples prepared by the hydrothermal method. Our results suggest that the solvent plays an important role to obtain high-yield SnO2 nanorods with high quality.