Tin Oxide Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization and Study their Particle Size at Different Current Density

Abstract

—Tin oxide nanoparticles are prepared by electrochemical reduction method using tetrapropylammonium bromide (TPAB) and tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) as structure directing agent in an organic medium viz. tetrahydrofuran (THF) and acetonitrile (ACN) in 4:1 ratio by optimizing current density and molar concentration of the ligand. The reduction process takes place under an inert atmosphere of nitrogen over a period of 2 h. Such nanoparticles are prepared by using a simple electrolysis cell in which the sacrificial anode as a commercially available in tin metal sheet and platinum (inert) sheet act as a cathode. The parameters such as current density, solvent polarity, distance between electrodes and concentration of stabilizers are used to control the size of nanoparticles. The synthesized tin oxide nanoparticles are characterized by using UV–Visible, FT-IR and SEM–EDS analysis techniques. UV-Visible spectroscopy has revealed the optical band gap to be 4.13, 4.16 and 4.24 ev for (8, 10 and 12 mA/cm 2) and the effect of current density on theirs particle size, respectively. Index Terms— Band gap, Electrochemical cell, Tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB), Tetrapropylammonium bromide (TPAB), Tin oxide nanoparticles.