Recent Advances of Doping of SnO2 Nanocrystals for Their Potential Applications

Abstract

SnO2 nanocrystal is a novel wide band gap n-type semiconductor which exhibits outstanding electrical, optical and electrochemical properties that can be exploited for solar cells, catalytic support materials, transparent electrodes and solid-state chemical sensors applications. The main focus of this article is to address the impacts of doping on the various properties of SnO2 nanocrystals including optical, electrical, photocatalytic and gas sensing. Recently, emphasis is given on metal ion doped SnO2 nanocrystals to enhance the electrical and optical properties. Metal ion doped SnO2 nanocrystals are found to be potential candidates for gas-sensing devices. We will begin with the description of general synthetic methodologies for designing doped SnO2 nanostructure materials. Interesting findings are that the application-based properties such as photocatalytic and gas sensing are increased manifold after doping of SnO2 nanocrystals. Finally, a tentative outlook on future developments of this research field is given.