Single crystalline SnO2 nanowires obtained from heat-treated SnO2 and C mixture and their electrochemical properties

•Large-scale SnO2 nanowires were prepared by thermal evaporation without any carrier gas or noble metal catalysts.•A growth model based on vapor–solid (VS) mechanism is constructed for the formation of the 1D nanostructure.•SnO2 nanowires delivered high lithium storage capacity with good cycle stability and high rate capability.

One-dimensional semiconductor nanostructures have demonstrated significant advantages for electrochemical electrode due to their remarkable size-dependent and structure-related properties. In this work, large-scale single-crystalline SnO2 nanowires have been successfully synthesized by thermal evaporation of a SnO2 and C powder under atmospheric conditions without any carrier gas or noble metal catalysts-coated substrate. The as-prepared samples exhibit uniform morphology with a thin diameter of 100–200 nm and length up to several tens of micrometers. The SnO2 nanowires directly grown on the initially deposition layer are found to grow along [301] direction, which is possibly dominated by a vapor–solid (VS) mechanism. The SnO2 nanowires synthesized by this simple and cheap method deliver a very high lithium storage capacity with good cycle stability and high rate capability, allowing for the achievement of high energy density and long cycle life for the next-generation energy conversion and storage devices.