Ultra-long single crystalline nanoribbons of tin oxide

Novel nanoribbons of single crystalline SnO2 have been successfully synthesized by simple thermal evaporation of SnO or SnO2 powders at high temperatures. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) show that the nanoribbons are structurally perfect and uniform, with widths of 30–200 nm, width-to-thickness ratio of ∼5–10, and lengths of several hundred micrometers to a few millimeters. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis indicate that the nanoribbons have the same crystal structure and chemical composition found in the rutile form of SnO2. Electron diffraction (ED) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveal that the nanoribbons grow along the [101] crystal direction and they are bounded by (010)/(010) and (101)/(101) crystal facets.