Facile Synthesis of Crystalline SnO2 Nanowires on Various Current Collector Substrates

Crystalline SnO2 nanowires with smooth surface and uniform diameter were readily produced via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method on various current collectors including carbon paper, stainless steel and copper. The growth followed a vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism employing a gold thin film as the catalyst. Morphology, composition and structure of the SnO2 nanowires on different collectors were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Morphology results demonstrated that the growth of SnO2 nanowires only occurred in a narrow temperature range, while the structure and composition information unveiled the correlation between the quality of the nanowires and the employed substrates. The unique architecture of SnO2 nanowires directly growing on current collectors are expected to act as building blocks in producing various types of nanodevices, especially as anode materials for Li-ion batteries.