Hydrophilic nickel doped porous SnO2 thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis

• Published in: Physica scripta 2020-08, Vol.95 (9)
• Main Authors: Khalfallah, Mehdi, Guermat, Noubeil, Daranfed, Warda, Bouarissa, Nadir, Bakhti, Haddi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: doping; hydrophilic; nickel; SnO; spray pyrolysis; thin film
• ISSN: 0031-8949; 1402-4896
• DOI: 10.1088/1402-4896/aba8c5

This work deals with the preparation and characterization of pure and Nickel-doped porous Tin oxide (SnO2) thin films, using Spray pyrolysis technique for an eventual application in optoelectronics. The structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of these prepared samples were investigated using various techniques. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the tetragonal structure of pure SnO2 and Ni-doped films. The preferred orientation of the crystallites changed from (110) to (200) with the film doped at 15.3 at.% Ni, with crystallite size of about 10 and 18 nm for 15.3 at.% Ni-doped and 5.6 at.% Ni-doped SnO2, respectively. Scanning Electron Microscopy shows that the 15.3 at.% Ni-doped SnO2 film surface is relatively homogeneous, while the 5.6 at.% Ni-doped film is highly porous. The measured contact angles are less than 90° for all the prepared samples confirming the hydrophilic character of all the films. Transmittance as high as 85% in the visible region was observed for 5.6 at.% Ni-doped films, while lower transmittance is observed for 15.3 at.% Ni-doped films. A decrease of the optical band gap and the resistivity with increasing Ni dopant concentration were also observed.