Preparation of antimony-doped nanoparticles by hydrothermal method

Antimony-doped tin oxide( ATO) nanoparticles were prepared by the mild hydrothermal method at 200 degrees C using sodium stannate, antimony oxide, sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid as the starting materials. The doped powders were examined by differential thermal analysis(DTA), X-ray diffractometry(XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The doping levels of antimony were determined by volumetric method and iodimetry. The results show that antimony is incorporated into the crystal lattice of tin oxide and the doping levels of antimony in the resulting powders are 2.4%, 4.3% and 5.1% (molar fraction). The mean particle size of ATO nanoparticles is in the range of 25 - 30 nm. The effects of antimony doping level on the crystalline size and crystallinity were also discussed.