Controllable fabrication of SnO2-coated multiwalled carbon nanotubes by chemical vapor deposition

A simple and efficient approach for coating multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with size-controllable SnO2 nanoparticles by chemical vapor deposition has been developed using tin hydride (SnH4) gas as the source of SnO2 at 550 deg C. The size and coverage of SnO2 nanoparticles can be adjusted by simply controlling the deposition time and the flow rate of the SnH4/N2 mixture gas during the CVD procedure. In addition, by using the MWCNTs as a sacrificial template, a kind of one-dimensional chain-like SnO2 nanostructure has been synthesized by increasing the deposition temperature to 730 deg C. This technique may provide a good way to produce tunable SnO2-MWCNT composites.