Surfactants assisted SnO2 nanoparticles synthesized by a hydrothermal approach and potential applications in water purification and energy conversion

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2019-07, Vol.30 (14), p.13174-13190
• Main Authors: Suthakaran, S., Dhanapandian, S., Krishnakumar, N., Ponpandian, N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Blue shift; Catalytic activity; Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Crystallites; Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy; Electron diffraction; Energy conversion; Energy gap; Fourier transforms; High resolution; Materials Science; Microscopy; Nanoparticles; Optical and Electronic Materials; Photocatalysis; Photocatalysts; Photoluminescence; Polyethylene glycol; Scanning electron microscopy; Spectrum analysis; Surfactants; Synthesis; Tin dioxide; Transmission electron microscopy; Water purification; X ray powder diffraction; X-ray diffraction
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-019-01681-7

SnO 2 nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by facile hydrothermal method in the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG), cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) as surfactant. The synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–visible DRS) and photoluminescence (PL). The XRD studies revealed that the position of diffraction peaks agreed well with the reflection of a tetragonal structure of SnO 2 phase. The structure of the SnO 2 did not change by introducing surfactants but the crystallite size was decreased. The optical studies revealed a clear blue shift in the band gap energy (Eg) with a decrease in particle size. The PL intensity of SHMP assisted NPs is lower than that of bare SnO 2 and other surfactant assisted SnO 2 NPs, which indicated the suppression of the recombination of the photogenerated carriers. These results reveal that SHMP assisted SnO 2 NPs is suitable for further electrochemical and photocatalytic activity. The surfactant (SHMP) assisted SnO 2 photocatalyst exhibited the increased photocatalytic activities compared with the bare SnO 2 photocatalyst. Furthermore, the SHMP assisted SnO 2 electrode exhibited the increased supercapacitor performances.