Issue 9, 2018

Sn4+ doping induced novel morphological evolution in zinc titanate heteronanostructures and studies on their optical properties

Abstract

The present study reports Sn4+ doping induced novel morphological evolution in zinc titanate heteronanostructures synthesized using Sn4+ substituted Zn–Ti glycolates as precursors. First, Sn4+ substituted Zn–Ti glycolates with a wide range of tin concentrations (5%, 10%, 20% and 50%) were synthesized by an ethylene glycol mediated route. The precursors were calcined at 500 °C and 700 °C to obtain the Sn4+ doped zinc titanates. Powder X-ray diffraction studies demonstrate the formation of Sn4+ substituted Zn–Ti glycolates in the precursors. Zn2TiO4 is formed upon calcination of pure Zn–Ti glycolate. Sn4+ doped ZnTiO3 is produced after the calcination of Zn–Ti glycolates prepared using lower tin concentrations (e.g. 5% and 10%) and a mixture of SnO2 and Sn4+ doped ZnTiO3 is formed after the calcination of Zn–Ti glycolates prepared using higher tin concentrations (e.g. 20% and 50%). The morphology of pure Zn–Ti glycolate is spherical which changes to rod-like morphology upon incorporation of Sn4+ (5% to 20%). The width of the rod-like particles increases upon increasing the concentration of Sn4+ further and hexagonal prism-like particles are obtained in the case of the Zn–Ti glycolate prepared using 50% of Sn4+. The morphology of zinc titanates is retained as that of the corresponding Zn–Ti glycolates after calcination at 500 °C and 700 °C. The band gap of the tin doped zinc titanates can be tuned from 3.2 to 3.7 eV by varying the dopant concentration and calcination temperature.

Graphical abstract: Sn4+ doping induced novel morphological evolution in zinc titanate heteronanostructures and studies on their optical properties

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 Nov 2017
Accepted
29 Mar 2018
First published
02 Apr 2018

New J. Chem., 2018,42, 7468-7479

Sn4+ doping induced novel morphological evolution in zinc titanate heteronanostructures and studies on their optical properties

U. Sharma and J. Pethaiyan, New J. Chem., 2018, 42, 7468 DOI: 10.1039/C7NJ04530A

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