Preparation of Tin Oxide Self-assembly Nanostructures by Chemical Vapor Deposition

Two types of tin oxide self-assembly nanostructures, lotus flower-shaped and chrysanthemum-shaped, were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition method using gold nanoparticles as catalyst. The lotus flower-shaped tin oxide nanostructure was comprised of a disc with mesh in nanoscale and a thin film of nanowires, whereas the chrysanthemum-shaped tin oxide nanostructure was comprised of nanowires or nanobelts in a radicalized arrangement. X-ray diffraction spectra indicated that the former was composed of Sn and SnO2 and the latter was composed of only SnO2. By adjusting experimental parameters, such as pressure, temperature, flow rate of the carrier gas or oxygen in the carrier gas, and then characterizing the products with scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, possible growth mechanism for these two types of self-assembly tin oxide nanostructures was proposed.