Effect of Oxygen Vacancy on Structural, Optical and Magnetic Behavior of Tin Oxide Nanoparticles.

Nanocrystalline SnO2 powder has been successfully synthesized by using tin(II) chloride dihydrate (SnCl 2 ⋅ 2 H2O), distilled water and liquid ammonia by the simple chemical co-precipitation method at room temperature using different SnCl 2 ⋅ 2 H2O molar concentration of 0.3 M, 0.4 M and 0.5 M. The structural properties of the prepared SnO2 and transition metal doped SnO2 nanoparticles has been studied using X-ray diffraction method and scanning electron microscope. The composition of the powders has been analyzed using energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The XRD pattern of the SnO2 nanoparticles indicates the formation of single-phase rutile tetragonal structure. The grain size is found to be in the range of 3–7 nm and is found to increase with increasing SnCl2 molar concentration. The absorption spectra revealed that the bandgap decreased from 3.74 eV to 3.59 eV with increasing SnCl2 molar concentration. The photoluminescence spectra of SnO2 nanoparticles showed a visible broad luminescence band in the region of 385–430 nm. The magnetic studies have been carried out using the hysteresis loop obtained from a vibrating sample magnetometer. The SnO2 samples using 0.3 and 0.4 SnCl2 molar concentration exhibited ferromagnetic behavior whereas the SnO2 sample prepared using 0.5 M SnCl 2 ⋅ 2 H2O exhibited paramagnetic nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]