Synthesis of Nano-Sized SnO2 by Direct Chemical Precipitation Using Tin(II) Chloride

The process of synthesizing nano-sized SnO2 by direct chemical precipitation using tin(II) chloride and hydrogen peroxide was investigated. The thermal behavior of the obtained powders was studied using simultaneous thermal analysis (TGA/DSC). The impact of H2O2 concentration in the reaction system on the set of functional groups in the materials was demonstrated using IR spectroscopy, while X-ray powder diffraction analysis was utilized to examine the crystalline structure of the powders, including the thermal transformation of tin(II) oxyhydroxide. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to show the effect of the reaction system composition on the size of primary particles and the agglomerates formed. In particular, it was established that with an increase of H2O2 concentration, both the size of the primary particles and the agglomerates decrease. The roughness of the films formed from the obtained nanopowders was studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) was used to construct surface potential distribution maps for the obtained materials and to evaluate the electron work function from their surface.