Abstract
Hierarchically assembled SnO2 microflowers were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal process. Field emission scanning electron microscope results showed these hierarchical nanostructures were built from two dimensional nanosheets with the thicknesses of about 50 nm. Photoluminescence spectrum of the as-obtained products demonstrated a strong visual emission peak at 564 nm. The photochemical measurement results indicated that the as-prepared sample exhibits excellent photocatalytic performance. These three dimensional SnO2 hierarchical nanostructures may have potential applications in waste water purification.
Highlights
Field emission scanning electron microscope results showed these hierarchical nanostructures were built from two dimensional nanosheets with the thicknesses of about 50 nm
A few successful examples of SnO2 nanosheets have been reported [28,29,30], which may be attributed to the difficulty in controlling the oxidation process of Sn2+ to Sn4+ such that the mixed phases of SnO2 and SnO will coexist in the product [31]
We reported the synthesis of SnO2 hierarchical architectures by a simple hydrothermal route without the assistant of any templates and surfactants at mild temperature
Summary
Primary nanoparticles through an orientated attachment process, in which the adjacent nanoparticles are self-assembled by sharing a common crystallographic orientation and docking of these particles at a planar interface. Small particles may aggregate in an oriented fashion to produce a larger single crystal, or they may aggregate randomly and reorient, recrystallize, or undergo phase transformations to produce larger single crystals. This type of growth mode could lead to the formation of faceted particles or anisotropic growth if there is sufficient difference in the surface energies of different crystallographic faces. The formation of the SnO2 microflowers can be rationally expressed as a kinetically controlled nucleationdissolution-recrystallization mechanism for three steps in sequence: (1) the hydrothermal-induced formation of primary nanoparticles, (2) with time increasing, hydrothermal-induced fusion of these primary nanoparticles accompanying the oriented growth to form the sheet-like structure, and (3) a further growth and crystallization process, giving rise to the formation of the
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