Synthesis of Hierarchical SnO(2) Nanowire–TiO(2) Nanorod Brushes Anchored to Commercially Available FTO-coated Glass Substrates

Growth of single-crystal SnO(2) nanowires using a fluorine-doped SnO(2) (FTO) thin film as both the source and substrate is demonstrated for the first time at relatively low temperature (580 °C) which preserves the integrity of the underlying glass support and improves scalability to devices. Furthermore, a microwave hydrothermal process is shown to grow TiO(2) nanorods on these nanowires to create a hierarchical nanoheterostructure that will lead to efficient photogenerated charge carrier separation and rapid transport of electrons to the substrate. This process simplifies nanowire growth by using commercially available and widely used FTO substrates without the need for an additional upstream Sn source and can be used as a high surface area host structure to many other hierarchical structures. [Image: see text]