Preparation and characterisation of TiO2–SnO2 binary oxide nanotubes

Abstract

The nanotubular architectures of metal oxides have emerged as a fascinating class of nanomaterials because of their superior performance in numerous applications, such as gas sensing, drug delivery and electronic and optoelectronic device. One of the most powerful and now extensively synthesising methods for nanotube (NT) structures relies on solid state templates and sol–gel to control the diameter and length of nanostructures. Among the metal oxides, TiO2 and SnO2 are the functional semiconductor oxides for their wide applications in nanodevice. It is meaningful to prepare the TiO2 oxide NT compositing the SnO2 component. In this work, the synthesis of nanotubular architectured composite materials consisting of TiO2 and SnO2 by the combination of the sol–gel chemical method and the anodic aluminium oxide templating method is reported. The method can control the diameter and tube end morphology, and the as obtained products were characterised by X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry. The diameter of the composite NT is ∼150 nm with open tube end. The composite NTs are composed of mixed oxides of Sn, O and Ti. The mechanisms of formation of NTs have been elucidated. The reported results are expected to have a significant impact on synthesising other binary oxide NTs.