Elucidation of the Crystal Growth Characteristics of SnO Nanoaggregates Formed by Sequential Low-Temperature Sol-Gel Reaction and Freeze Drying.

SnO nanoparticles are regarded as attractive, functional materials because of their versatile applications. SnO nanoaggregates with single-nanometer-scale lumpy surfaces provide opportunities to enhance hetero-material interfacial areas, leading to the performance improvement of materials and devices. For the first time, we demonstrate that SnO nanoaggregates with oxygen vacancies can be produced by a simple, low-temperature sol-gel approach combined with freeze-drying.