Surfactant-assisted synthesis of SnS nanowires grown on tin foils

Crystalline SnS wires of micro- and nanometer scale have been synthesized over tin metal foils at room temperature using a simple surfactant-assisted approach. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, UV-Vis-near infrared (NIR) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were used to characterize the SnS nanowires. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the formation of the pure orthorhombic phase of SnS. The optical band gap of the samples was found to be similar to 1.4 eV. From the investigation, the formation of nanowires could be explained in two steps: initial cracking/splitting of the nanoflakes was followed by a top-growth mechanism to form ultralong nanowires. Effects of various experimental parameters on the growth mechanism were investigated. Present studies have shown that this facile process also can be extended for the synthesis of other low dimensional structures.