Structural, optical, and electrochemical investigations of sb-substituted mesoporous SnO2 nanoparticles

In this study, the effect of the substitution of various proportions of Antimony (Sb) on mesoporous tin dioxide was analyzed. The structural study of XRD confirmed the solubility of Sb (upto 5 mol%) in the parent matrix. The structural and morphological studies confirmed a decrease in particle size with increasing proportion of Sb. The porosity and the surface area were evaluated by N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms. Moreover, porosity studies indicated that the addition of Sb did not affect the mesoporous nature of the parent tin dioxide. The optical properties showed a transparent behavior in the visible region. A sharp and well-defined redox peaks were observed in cyclic voltammograms. This can be explained by the occurrence of faster kinetic process in the material doped with higher percentage of Sb which showed a lower charge transfer resistance (RCT).