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ISSN Online: 2379-1748

ISBN Flash Drive: 978-1-56700-518-9

5th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference (TFEC)
April, 5-8, 2020, New Orleans, LA, USA

Growth Control of SnO2 Nanoparticles Using a Low-Temperature Solution Process

Get access (open in a new tab) pages 555-564
DOI: 10.1615/TFEC2020.sol.033127

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells, specifically using SnO2 nanoparticles, have been extensively researched and are proving to be extremely promising in the field of renewable energy by increasing a solar cell's overall efficiency and lowering the cost of production. In this study, an experiment was performed to synthesize SnO2 nanoparticles over 8 days. Day 1 was the synthesis which included the mixing of water, tin (II) chloride, methanol, sodium carbonate and dimethylformamide and then heated in a water bath at 28°C. Sampling of this solution started on day 4 of the experiment when sufficient particle growth was observed and stopped at day 8. Centrifuging, freezing, and freeze-drying were used for each sample to isolate the solid product. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction was used to characterize the isolated nanoparticle. The results from the X-ray powder diffraction showed that each sample consisted of SnO2 nanoparticles of different sizes. From the transmission electron microscopy on the samples showed that the overall size of the nanoparticles gradually increased during each additional synthesis day.