Preparation of SnO₂ Nanowires by Solvent-Free Method Using Mesoporous Silica Template and Their Gas Sensitive Properties

In this paper, a facile method was presented to synthesize tin dioxide (SnO₂) nanowires by solventfree method using SnCl₂·2H₂O as precursor and mesoporous silica SBA-15 as the hard template. No solvent was used in the processing. The products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and N₂ adsorption/desorption isotherms. The results indicated that SnO₂ nanowires fabricated by this method have a diameter of about 8 nm and a relatively high surface area 73.0 m²/g. The gas sensing properties of SnO₂ nanowires were measured. The response and recovery time of this sensor were 6 s and 12 s, respectively. With the concentration of toluene increasing, the response of the sensor doubled increase. Compared with bulk SnO₂, SnO₂ nanowires showed much higher response to toluene.