A simple method to controllably coat crystalline SnO2 nanoparticles on multiwalled carbon nanotubes

By thermodynamic calculation and experimental confirmation, we found that SnCl2 could convert, with a conversion efficient of approximately 100 mol.%, into SnO2 in pure water at room temperature through hydrolysis-oxidation. Based on this interesting finding, a simple process of coating crystalline SnO2 nanoparticles on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has been successfully developed. In this process, starting material SnCl2 almost completely converted into SnO2, making the content of SnO2 precisely controllable. XPS, TEM and XRD were used to characterize the composition and microstructure of the SnO2/MWCNTs composite. The results show that crystalline nanoparticles (3-5 nm in diameter) of SnO2 were coated onto the substrate in high dispersion.