Porous SnO₂ nanowire bundles for photocatalyst and Li ion battery applications

In this work, we report the synthesis of porous SnO₂ nanowire bundles with high yield through a simple solution approach. The bundles are composed of porous SnO₂ nanowires with overall diameters in the range of 80-120 nm. Growth control of the sample morphology is demonstrated by adjusting the dose of Sn precursor. Functional tests of the nanowire bundles include photocatalytic effect in the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB), and electrochemical properties as a Li-ion battery anode. The electrochemical test reveals that the as-synthesized product shows a very high reversible capacity and Coulombic efficiency in the initial cycles, as well as reasonably good cycling performance compared with other SnO₂ nanostructures. Such porous SnO₂ nanostructures synthesized by the simple and cheap method are expected to have application potential in waste water treatment and/or energy storage.