Combined flame and solution synthesis of nanoscale tungsten–oxide and zinc/tin–oxide heterostructures

Abstract

Heterostructures of tungsten-oxide nanowires decorated with zinc/tin-oxide nanostructures are synthesized via a combined flame and solution synthesis approach. Vertically well-aligned tungsten-oxide nanowires are grown on a tungsten substrate by a flame synthesis method. Here, tetragonal WO(2.9) nanowires (diameters of 20-50 nm, lengths >10 μm, and coverage density of 10(9)-10(10) cm(-2)) are produced by the vapor-solid mechanism at 1720 K. Various kinds of Zn/Sn-oxide nanostructures are grown or deposited on the WO(2.9) nanowires by adjusting the Sn(2+) : Zn(2+) molar ratio in an aqueous ethylenediamine solution at 65 °C. With WO(2.9) nanowires serving as the base structures, sequential growth or deposition on them of hexagonal ZnO nanoplates, Zn(2)SnO(4) nanocubes, and SnO(2) nanoparticles are attained for Sn(2+) : Zn(2+) ratios of 0 : 1, 1 : 10, and 10 : 1, respectively, along with different saturation conditions. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy of the interfaces at the nanoheterojunctions shows abrupt interfaces for ZnO/WO(2.9) and Zn(2)SnO(4)/WO(2.9), despite lattice mismatches of >20%.