Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of mesoporous SnO2/SnO2–SiO2 on neutral template

Mesoporous SnO2/SnO2–SiO2 with disordered pores and high thermal stability up to 600 °C were fabricated using hydrothermal treatment with/without impurity oxide (SiO2) doping. Neutral surfactant (tetradecylamine, TDA) was selected as the structure directing agent based on a sol–gel-derived process. The results showed that with careful control of the synthesis condition, mesoporous SnO2–SiO2 with small SnO2 nanocrystallites (∼25 Å), large specific surface area (211–340 m2/g), and pore volume (0.23–0.3 cm3/g) could be obtained after the removal of template at temperatures of 400–600 °C. The effects of synthesis parameters such as aging time, hydrothermal treatment, Si/Sn molar ratio and calcination temperature were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, wide/small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), HRTEM, and BET gas (N2) adsorption/desorption measurements.