Abstract:
Facile catalyst-freesynthesisofSnO2/ZnO core–shell nanowiresandhierarchicalnanostructuresgrownviaaone-stepcarbonassistedthermal
evaporation methodunderambientpressureisreported.Awhitewool-likemassformsatthesideandontopofaquartzboatduringtheprocess
that wasanalyzedby field emissionscanningelectronmicroscopy(FESEM).X-raydiffractionpatternsexhibitthattheas-synthesizedSnO2/ZnO
nanostructures consistofsinglephaseofZnOandSnO2. Transmissionelectronmicroscopy(TEM)suggeststhatthewool-likemasscontains
core–shell typeSnO2/ZnO nanowiresaswellashierarchicalnanostructures.Inthecore–shell nanowires,SnO2 forms thecore,whileZnOisthe
shell. Inthehierarchicalnanostructures,hexagonalshapedZnObranchesgrowontheZnOshelllayeratlonggrowthduration.Bothtypesof
nanostructures formedinthequartzboataresuggestedtogrowbythevapor–solid (VS)mechanism.Structuralcharacteristicsofthe
nanostructures arediscussed.Thesenanostructuresmayhavepotentialapplicationsinchemicalgassensorsandphotovoltaicdevices.
