The single crystalline SnO nanoplatelets are rapidly synthesized via reducing atmosphere flame spray pyrolysis (RAFSP) without the assistance of any catalyst and surfactant, where the average residence time of the precursors in high temperature flame reactor is less than 1 s. The as-prepared SnO nanoplatelets exhibit a rounded square morphology and most of them have an average diameter of about 250 nm with a thickness of about 30 nm. A possible formation mechanism of the SnO nanoplatelets has been proposed. Their electrochemical performances were also studied. It is also expected that the as-obtained SnO nanoplatelets can be employed in other fields, such as gas sensor, catalysis and so forth. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.