Structural investigation of SnO2 catalytic nanoparticles doped with F and Sb

Structural and morphological properties of pure and F-doped or Sb-doped particles of tin oxide were studied by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A typical polycrystalline diffraction pattern corresponding to the tetrahedral phase was obtained for all the particles independently of the doping. No peaks matching any antimony oxide phase were observed; thus, it is probable that Sb replaces Sn in the tin oxide lattice. Doping with antimony results in a lattice parameter increase of the SnO2/Sb phase, which might be related to the geometrical distortion of the lattice due to the replacement of Sn by Sb. Moreover, the SnO2/Sb sample exhibited a preferential orientation in the (110) and (101) planes. The TEM analysis showed that all the tin oxide particles are agglomerated and form aggregates and networks leading to a mesoporous structure with different pore sizes. The particles have a spherical shape and sizes between 5 and 20 nm in average. All particles were well crystallized with nicely visible lattice fringes in the high-resolution HRTEM images. Copyright (C) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.