In this paper, a novel hierarchical SnO2 assembled of nanotubes was successfully prepared using flower-like ZnO nanorods as self-etching template. Alkaline reaction environment led to the removal of the template without post-treatment. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), photoluminescence (PL), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and Zeta potential analysis. The as-prepared hierarchical SnO2 nanostructure showed uniform flower-like morphology, small grain size, and good crystallinity even without annealing. The product also had a very rough surface with a high specific area about 80 m2 g−1. The porous hierarchical SnO2 demonstrated high degradation rate (∼94%) for methylene blue (MB) in 30 min under UV light. Furthermore, the photocatalytic performance was sustained over 3 cycles, indicating it may have potential applications in wastewater treatment.
