Controllable fabrication of SnO2-coated multiwalled carbon nanotubes by chemical vapor deposition

A simple and efficient approach for coating multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with size-controllable SnO2 nanoparticles by chemical vapor deposition has been developed using tin hydride (SnH4) gas as the source of SnO2 at 550 °C. The size and coverage of SnO2 nanoparticles can be adjusted by simply controlling the deposition time and the flow rate of the SnH4/N2 mixture gas during the CVD procedure. In addition, by using the MWCNTs as a sacrificial template, a kind of one-dimensional chain-like SnO2 nanostructure has been synthesized by increasing the deposition temperature to 730 °C. This technique may provide a good way to produce tunable SnO2–MWCNT composites.