Nanoengineering of Tin Monosulfide (SnS)-Based Structures for Emerging Applications

In recent years, tin monosulfide (SnS), one kind of black phosphorus analogues, is of great interest owing to its unique properties, such as low cost, environmental compatibility, nontoxicity, earth-abundance, etc., which merit it an ideal candidate for modern devices, such as batteries, sensors, and optoelectronics, among others. The controllable and precise synthesis of SnS-based nanostructures with various crystal phases, sizes, and compositions holds great potential for high-performance devices as crucial components. To further improve their performance for next-generation devices, the nanoengineering of SnS-based nanostructures has been extensively explored over the past decade. In this review, the latest research and progress on SnS-based nanostructures, including 0D, 1D, 2D, and 3D pure SnS nanostructures, and SnS-based loaded, sandwiched or encapsulated models are comprehensively presented, focusing on their synthetic approaches, fundamental properties, and fascinating applications such as batteries and solar cells, catalysis (photocatalysis and electrocatalysis), optoelectronics, sensors, ferroelectrics, thermoelectrics, nonlinear properties, and biomedical applications. Finally, the critical challenges and constructive perspectives are discussed for further improvement of the SnS-based nanostructures in these burgeoning fields.