Influence of copper concentration on structural, morphological, and optical properties of tin oxide (Sn 1−x Cu x O 2−δ )

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to discuss a few advantages of Cu (transition metal) doped SnO2 (Sn1 − xCuxO2−δ) bulk nanoparticles that have been prepared by applying a simple and reasonably priced technique solid-state reaction method. To analyze especially, tunning of bandgap and other structural, morphological properties of Cu-doped SnO2 materials are examined by different innovative methods. Samples were characterized by XRD which confirms that SnO2 has a rutile type tetragonal-shaped structure that goes to the space group P42/mnm (number 136). SEM images indicate that SnO2 nanoparticles are inhomogeneous and densely closed with each other and an average particle size is approx 225–430 nm. The TEM images indicate that grains are present in a few cubic and spherical shapes. We observed grain size also increased (20-90nm) when we doped Copper in SnO2 nanoparticles. UV-Vis spectroscopy inspected that the band gap of (Sn1 − xCuxO2−δ) sample is increased from 3.531eV to 3.701eV. XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) identifies the electronic state of Sn and Cu atoms found to be 4+ and 2+ respectively. RAMAN spectroscopy identifies only three vibrational modes, i.e., (A1g, B2g, and doubly degenerate Eg) in pure and Cu-doped SnO2 nanomaterial (Sn1 − xCuxO2−δ).