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MDPI, Nanomaterials, 3(10), p. 410, 2020

DOI: 10.3390/nano10030410

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Hierarchical Nanoporous Sn/SnOx Systems Obtained by Anodic Oxidation of Electrochemically Deposited Sn Nanofoams

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

A simple two-step electrochemical method for the fabrication of a new type of hierarchical Sn/SnOx micro/nanostructures is proposed for the very first time. Firstly, porous metallic Sn foams are grown on Sn foil via hydrogen bubble-assisted electrodeposition from an acidulated tin chloride electrolyte. As-obtained metallic foams consist of randomly distributed dendrites grown uniformly on the entire metal surface. The estimated value of pore diameter near the surface is ~35 µm, while voids with a diameter of ~15 µm appear in a deeper part of the deposit. Secondly, a layer of amorphous nanoporous tin oxide (with a pore diameter of ~60 nm) is generated on the metal surface by its anodic oxidation in an alkaline electrolyte (1 M NaOH) at the potential of 4 V for various durations. It is confirmed that if only optimal conditions are applied, the dendritic morphology of the metal foam does not change significantly, and an open-porous structure is still preserved after anodization. Such kinds of hierarchical nanoporous Sn/SnOx systems are superhydrophilic, contrary to those obtained by thermal oxidation of metal foams which are hydrophobic. Finally, the photoelectrochemical activity of the nanostructured metal/metal oxide electrodes is also presented.