Nanostructured semiconducting properties of Sn-doped graphene synthesised by the hydrothermal method

Abstract

This work developed a hydrothermal process for the effective synthesis of Sn-doped graphene nanoparticles. To prepare the samples at 180°C in carbon tetrachloride organic solvent and different levels of Sn concentrations (0.3, 0.6 and 0.9) were used. A variety of analyses were carried out on the prepared materials, including XRD, SEM with EDX, TEM, AFM, UV, PL and I-V. The XRD analysis revealed good crystallinity and hexagonal structure in Sn-doped graphene nanoparticles. An SEM micrograph reveals that the morphology is flower, nano-chalk pieces and agglomerated at some places. The TEM images clearly specify the spherical and are agglomerated at some places. Topography images (AFM) show that hydrothermal treatment at different concentrations influences the growth of Sn-doped graphene NPs. The bandgap of Sn-doped graphene nanoparticles is estimated as 2.23, 3.7 and 4.7 eV. All the p-Si/n-graphene diodes exhibited excellent rectification with less reverse current. The impact of metal (Sn) doping concentration favourably decreases the n value of the p-Si/n-Sn-doped graphene diode. In the current work, it is shown that the p-Si/n graphene diode is highly sensitive to various concentrations of graphene.