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Direct synthesis of tin oxide nanotubes on microhotplates using carbon nanotubes as templates

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Abstract

Tin oxide (SnO2) nanotubes have been synthesized using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as removable templates. The entire synthesis takes place on the microscale on a micromachined hotplate, without the use of photolithography, taking advantage of the device’s built-in heater. Well-aligned multiwalled CNT forests were grown directly on microhotplates at 600 °C using a bimetallic iron/alumina composite catalyst and acetylene as precursor. Thin films of anhydrous SnO2 were then deposited onto the CNT forests through chemical vapor deposition of tin nitrate at 375 °C. The CNTs were then removed through a simple anneal process in air at temperatures above 450 °C, resulting in SnO2 nanotubes. Gas sensing measurements indicated a substantial improvement in sensitivity to trace concentrations of methanol from the SnO2 nanotubes in comparison with a SnO2 thin film. The synthesis technique is generic and may be used to create any metal oxide nanotube structure directly on microscale substrates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA

    Prahalad Parthangal, Douglas C. Meier & Andrew Herzing

  2. Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899, USA

    Richard E. Cavicchi

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  1. Prahalad Parthangal
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  2. Richard E. Cavicchi
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  3. Douglas C. Meier
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  4. Andrew Herzing
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  5. Michael R. Zachariah
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Correspondence to Richard E. Cavicchi.

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Parthangal, P., Cavicchi, R.E., Meier, D.C. et al. Direct synthesis of tin oxide nanotubes on microhotplates using carbon nanotubes as templates. Journal of Materials Research 26, 430–436 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2010.27

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