A facile and reliable solvothermal route for SnO microstructures with different morphologies

SnO micro/nanostructures with different morphologies have been successfully synthesised through a facile solvothermal method by using SnCl2·2H2O and NaOH as raw materials, and absolute ethanol as solvent. The as-prepared samples are characterised by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results indicate that the morphology of SnO can be controlled by simply changing the Sn2+/OH– molar ratio. Flower-like SnO hierarchical microstructures assembled by nanosheets with thickness about 200–500 nm can be prepared at 140°C when the molar ratio of Sn2+/OH– is 1:3. Assemblies of cubic-like building blocks and hexahedral particles in micrometer size are obtained when the molar ratio of Sn2+/OH– is adjusted to be 1:3.5 and 1:4, respectively. The possible formation mechanism of SnO with different morphology is discussed.