Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, May 2017
ISSN 2412-5954
Synthesis of SnS Nanoparticles by a Green Hydrothermal Route 8 L. Ansel Mely1, P. Annie Vinosha1, M. Mary Jaculine2, Rudhra Nivedita Nathan3, S. Jerome Das1, a 1
Department of Physics, Loyola College, Chennai, India
2
Department of Physics, Velammal Engineering College, Chennai, India
3
PG Department of Physics, Women's Christian College, Chennai, India
a
melyansel@gmail.com, jerome@loyolacollege.edu DOI 10.2412/mmse.48.4.664 provided by Seo4U.link
Keywords: tin sulphide, semiconductor nanoparticles, hydrothermal, photoluminescence.
ABSTRACT. The IV VI semiconductor nanoparticle tin sulphide (SnS), has sparked rigorous interest in the scientific commune because of the array of promising applications it offers such as in photovoltaics, near-infrared detectors and biomedical applications. In the present work, phase pure SnS nanoparticles were effectively synthesized by a green hydrothermal technique using the precursors tin chloride pentahydrate and thiourea. The as-prepared nanoparticles were subjected to various characterizations in order to analyze their optical, structural and transport properties. The Powder Xray Diffraction (XRD) measurements revealed the purity and crystalline nature of the SnS nanoparticles. The average crystallite size of 10.65 nm, calculated by the Scherrer's formula was in good agreement with the observations from the Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) micrographs. The transport properties of the synthesized nanoparticles were studied using dielectric analysis. Further, the UV-visible spectroscopy (Uv-vis) and Photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) results advocate that the primed SnS nanoparticles will be an appropriate applicant for photovoltaic and other light emitting applications.
Introduction. In recent years there is considerable interest in semiconductor nanoparticles due to their optical and electrical properties being different from those of their bulk counterparts, due to the quantum confinement effect [1]. Synthesis and application of IV- VI semicondctor nanoparticles have become the research hotspot of research among which nanoparticles tin sulphide (SnS) has gained substantial attention in the recent years owing to its multitude of merits such as exhibiting p and n type behaviour, narrow band gap; bulk direct band gap of 1.3 eV and indirect bandgap of 1.1 eV; high optical absorption coefficient for photons and high photoelectric conversion efficiency of up to 25%, ampleness of raw material and meagre toxicity. Tin sulphide and can be extensively used in areas of electronics non-linear optics, luminescence, energy storage and conversion and many more [2], [3]. Due to the versatile coordinating characteristic of SnS, it shows a variety of phases such as SnS, SnS2, Sn2S3, Sn3S4 and Sn4S5 [4]. Further it adopts a strongly distorted NaCl structure with double layers of tightly bound Sn-S atoms with the bonding between layers of Vanderwaal type [5]. In the present effort, the structural and optical properties of hydrothermally prepared SnS nanoparticles were investigated for potential optical applications. Materials and methods Materials used. In the present work, tin chloride pentahydrate (SnCl2.5H2O) and thiourea (NH2CSNH2) were purchased from Merck and used without further purification. The tin slphide (SnS) nanoparticles were synthesized by a scrupulous hydrothermal method using a cylindrical Teflon-lined stainless steel autoclave of 200 ml capacity. Double distilled water was served as solvent for the experiment. 8
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