Popcorn like morphology and absence of room temperature ferromagnetism in Ni doped SnO2 nanoparticles

Abstract

Ni-doped SnO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by the microwave oven assisted solvothermal method. The structural characterization was done by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy. The outcomes confirmed that Ni-doped SnO2 nanoparticles have a pure rutile-type tetragonal phase of SnO2 structures with a high degree of crystallization and a crystallite size of 10–14 nm. Popcorn like SEM morphology of the nickel doped sample is shown. Optical characterization was done by UV–Vis spectrometer, fluorescence spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Magnetic characterization was done by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The VSM measurements revealed that the Ni doped SnO2 powder samples were diamagnetic at room temperature. This diamagnetic result is in contradiction to earlier published results.