Growth of tin dioxide nanobelts via Au-catalytic VLS process.

Ultra-long (several millimeters) tin dioxide SnO2 nanobelts were prepared by chemical vapor deposition at 850 degrees C. The X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) indicated that the as-prepared sample is tetragonal phase SnO2; field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) reveals the as-prepared SnO2 is uniform nanobelts; transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) studies show the nanobelts is monocrystalline with width of hundreds of nanometers and growth along [101] crystal direction; X-ray energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and photoluminescence (PL) spectrum were used to detail its composition and optical properties. The possible formation mechanism of these ultra-long nanobelts was also proposed on the basis of experiments.