Synthesis and time-resolved photoluminescence of SnO2 nanorods

Abstract

A solvo-thermal method is employed to synthesize SnO2 nanorods and the Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopic analysis confirms the formation of SnO bond. The X-ray diffraction analysis suggests that SnO2 nanorods exist in tetragonal rutile crystal structure phase. Transmission electron microscopy images show the formation of nanorods with an average diameter ∼10–15 nm and length 35–50 nm. The deconvoluted photoluminescence spectrum suggests the existence of three distinct origins of photoluminescence, which peaks at photon energies of ∼423 nm (2.93 eV), ∼470 nm (2.64 eV) and 480 nm (2.58 eV). The measured photoluminescence kinetics is best described by a tri-exponential decay model suggesting that the photoluminescence occurs from three distinct channels with time constants 1.31 ns, 4.89 ns and 13.24 ns. These studies suggest that SnO2 nanorods synthesized by solvo-thermal method at mild conditions can be used for luminescent device applications. The long lived emission of SnO2 nanorods in the visible region make them suitable candidate as an active materials for many opto-electronic devices such as light emitting diodes and solar cells.