Shape-controlled SnO and their improved properties in the field of gas sensor, photocatalysis, and lithium-ion battery

In this paper, over 20 kinds of tin monoxide (SnO) morphologies are prepared by using a facile solvothermal process. Among all these obtained SnO materials, the shapes with unique morphologies such as bowl-, pompon-, sheet-, hollow frame-like structures exhibit excellent NO 2 gas sensing, photocatalytic degradation, and lithium-ion batteries properties due to their large specific surface area and more active sites compared with other shapes. For the NO 2 gas sensors properties, these SnO with unique morphologies exhibit excellent sensing performance, including low detection limits (≤ 100 ppb, even reaching 5 ppb), short response and recovery time (< 100 s). Finally, the as-prepared SnO are used as the efficient photocatalysts and lithium-ion battery anode material. These performances have been improved significantly compared with other shaped SnO proposed by other reports. All these advantages indicate the huge application potential of SnO in the field of photocatalysis, gas sensitivity, and lithium-ion battery performance. • Over 20 kinds of SnO morphologies were prepared successfully, including bowl-, pompon-, sheet-, hollow frame-like. • SnO shows excellent gas-sensing performances, including low detection limits (e.g. 5 ppb), short response time (< 100 s). • Lithium-ion batteries and photocatalytic degradation properties have been improved significantly compared with other SnO.