Semiconductor
nanowires are mostly processed by complex, expensive, and high temperature
methods. In this work, with the intent of developing zinc tin oxide
nanowires (ZTO NWs) by low-cost and low-complexity processes, we show
a detailed study on the influence of chemical parameters in the hydrothermal
synthesis of ZTO nanostructures at temperatures of only 200 °C.
Two different zinc precursors, the ratio between zinc and tin precursors,
and the concentration of the surfactant agent and of the mineralizer
were studied. The type and the crystallinity of the nanostructures
were found to be highly dependent on the used precursors and on the
concentration of each reagent. Conditions for obtaining different
ZTO nanostructures were achieved, namely, Zn
2
SnO
4
nanoparticles and ZnSnO
3
nanowires with length ∼600
nm, with the latter being reported for the first time ever by hydrothermal
methods without the use of seed layers. Optical and electrical properties
were analyzed, obtaining band gaps of 3.60 and 3.46 eV for ZnSnO
3
and Zn
2
SnO
4
, respectively, and a resistivity
of 1.42 kΩ·cm for single ZnSnO
3
nanowires, measured
using nanomanipulators after localized deposition of Pt electrodes
by e-beam assisted gas decomposition. The low-temperature hydrothermal
methods explored here proved to be a low-cost, reproducible, and highly
flexible route to obtain multicomponent oxide nanostructures, particularly
ZTO NWs. The diversity of the synthesized ZTO structures has potential
application in next-generation nanoscale devices such as field effect
nanotransistors, nanogenerators, resistive switching memories, gas
sensors, and photocatalysis.