Study of Ligand-Assisted Co-precipitation and Structural Passivation in Semiconducting SnO2 Nanostructures

( Vol-12,Issue-2,March - April 2026 )

Author(s): Dr. Surender Kumar

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Page No: 179-184
DOI: 10.22161/ijaems.122.22

Keywords:

Morphological, Doping, Nanostructures, Degradation, Precursors.

Abstract:

This study investigates the synthesis, thermal evolution, and doping of pure, aluminum-doped (Al-doped), and silver-doped (Ag-doped) tin dioxide (SnO2) nanoparticles. As a highly versatile wide-bandgap semiconductor, SnO2 offers exceptional properties for advanced electronic and optical applications; however, its functional efficacy relies heavily on precise morphological control at the nanoscale. To achieve this, a bottom-up chemical co-precipitation method was employed using stannic chloride and sodium carbonate. A central focus of this research is the systematic evaluation of four structurally diverse capping agents, which were integrated to govern nucleation kinetics, confine crystal growth, and prevent nanoparticle agglomeration. Furthermore, targeted doping was performed by introducing aluminum hydroxide and silver nitrate during the precipitation phase to produce Al-doped and Ag-doped SnO2 nanostructures, respectively. The thermal degradation profiles of the synthesized carbonate precursors were comprehensively evaluated utilizing Thermogravimetric and Differential Thermal Analysis in a nitrogen atmosphere from 28°C to 800°C. Thermal analysis identified the exact thresholds for complete volatile mass loss, which is critical for inducing porosity while preventing thermal sintering. Consequently, precise calcination parameters were established: pure and Al-doped precursors were annealed at 400°C, whereas the thermodynamic stability of the Ag-doped matrix necessitated a calcination temperature of 450°C. All samples were processed with a careful heating ramp of 5°C/min and held for an optimized duration of 3 hours. The low-temperature exothermic decomposition of the carbonaceous material successfully yielded phase-pure, highly crystalline semiconducting oxides. Ultimately, this work demonstrates that pairing scalable co-precipitation techniques with specific organic surface passivation and metal doping provides a robust framework for tailoring the structural and physical properties of advanced nanomaterials.

Received: 29 Mar 2026; Received in revised form: 24 Apr 2026; Accepted: 27 Apr 2026; Available online: 30 Apr 2026

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