Hollow tin dioxide (S-SnO 2) and solid SnO 2 (B-SnO 2) were prepared by a hydrothermalcalcination method with and without carbon spheres as templates, respectively. The flame retardancy, mechanical and thermal degradation properties, and char residues of the poly(vinyl chloride) samples treated with S-SnO 2 and B-SnO 2 were contrastively investigated by a limiting oxygen index instrument, cone calorimeter (Cone), tensile properties tests, and thermogravimetric analyzer. When the loading level of SnO 2 was 2 phr, the limiting oxygen index of the poly(vinyl chloride) sample treated with S-SnO 2 (poly(vinyl chloride)/S-SnO 2) increased by 5.3% and 2%, and its elongation is 27.3% and 29.9% higher than that of the blank poly(vinyl chloride) and the poly(vinyl chloride) sample treated with B-SnO 2 (poly(vinyl chloride)/B-SnO 2), respectively. Compared with the blank poly(vinyl chloride) and the poly(vinyl chloride)/B-SnO 2 , the total heat release of poly(vinyl chloride)/S-SnO 2 decreased by 24.5% and 9.4%, and the peak of smoke production rate decreased by 56.7% and 11.7%, respectively.