Fabrication of porous BaSnO3 hollow architectures using BaCO3@SnO2 core–shell nanorods as precursors

We present a strategy to synthesize porous BaSnO3 hollow architectures with that were 150–300 nm in diameter and 1.5–5 μm in length using precursor of BaCO3@SnO2 nanorods prepared by hydrothermal treatment. BaCO3@SnO2 nanorods, consisting of a BaCO3 core and a SnO2 shell, could be used effectively for the solid-state synthesis of polycrystalline BaSnO3 powder at 800 °C (lower than convention for BaCO3 and SnO2 mixtures). The core/shell structure of the precursor could play a role as a structural directing template for preparing BaSnO3 hollow architectures during the calcination process. The X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) are employed to characterize the structures and morphologies. When applied to DSSC, the porous BaSnO3 hollow architectures exhibit distinct photovoltaic effect.