Doping
is an effective way to tune the band gap of metal oxide
semiconductor materials. Doped tin oxide nanoparticles have proven
to be effective materials for various electro-optical applications,
particularly when deposited in thin-film architectures. However, doping
in metal oxide nanoparticles generally leads to distorted shapes and
a lack of uniformity, making the ready preparation of spherical, monodisperse
doped tin oxide stand-alone nanoparticles an elusive task. This report
describes a facile, solution-based method for the synthesis of stable,
monodisperse antimony- and zinc-doped tin oxide nanoparticles, which
opens the door to disperse these materials in a variety of media and
expand their range of applications. The band gap of the tin oxide
nanoparticles was successfully tuned upon doping with antimony and
zinc. The tin-oxide-based nanomaterials were characterized using scanning
electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM),
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
(EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Separately, the optical properties
of the nanoparticles were evaluated by UV–vis diffuse reflectance
spectroscopy (DRS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). These
nanoparticles can be very effective in creating well-controlled systems
for photocatalysis, solar cells, optoelectronics, multilayered devices,
and for the treatment of air and water pollutants.