One-Pot electrochemical fabrication of Single-Crystalline SnO nanostructures on Si and ITO substrates for Catalytic, sensor and energy storage applications

In this work, SnO nanostructures were prepared by a facile and reproducible electrochemical technique from an oxygenated aqueous solution of Sn2+ onto Si(1 0 0) and indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass that are widely used as substrates in various applications. The nanoscale structure, morphology and chemical compositions of the as-electrodeposited SnO were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Our results showed that SnO nanobelts with very smooth and flat surfaces could be electrodeposited on Si(1 0 0). While the vertically grown nanobars of SnO, including small number of nanobelt, nanodisks and aggregated nanoparticles, could be synthesized on ITO. Photocatalytic, antireflective, capacitive, and electrochemical sensing behavior of the SnO nanostructures were explored using cyclic voltammetry, UV-vis absorption and reflection spectroscopy and photocurrent measurements. The as-electrodeposited SnO nanobelts on Si(1 0 0) exhibit an antireflective effect (reduction in reflectance from 75% to 15% in the 200-400 nm wavelength range) and the high electrochemical double layer capacitance (Csp: 4.63 mF/cm2). In addition, these SnO nanobelts on Si(1 0 0) showed an excellent amperometric response toward H2O2 sensing with a low detection limit of 5 μM and a high sensitivity of 2.6 μA/μM cm2. The fast and uniform photocurrent responses were observed for the as-electrodeposited SnO nanobars on the ITO electrodes under visible light.