Superior gas-sensing and lithium-storage performance SnO2 nanocrystals synthesized by hydrothermal method

SnO2 nanocrystals with diameters of 2.5-4.1 nm were successfully synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method. The as-synthesized SnO2 nanocrystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electronic microscopy (HR-TEM) and nitrogen adsorption. Moreover, it was found that acetic acid played a crucial role in determining the dispersion and crystal size of the SnO2 samples. In addition, the as-synthesized SnO2 nanocrystals not only displayed excellent gas-sensing properties such as very fast response and recovery speed, excellent repeatability and good selectivity, but also high discharging capacity and good cycling performance in lithium ion batteries.