Role of Alkylamines in Tuning the Morphology and Optical Properties of SnS2 Nanoparticles Synthesized by via Facile Thermal Decomposition Approach

Abstract

The present study reported the synthesis of SnS2 nanoparticles by using a thermal decomposition approach using tin chloride and thioacetamide in diphenyl ether at 200 °C over 60 min. SnS2 nanoparticles with novel morphologies were prepared by the use of different alkylamines (namely, octylamine (OCA), dodecylamine (DDA), and oleylamine (OLA)), and their role during the synthesis was explored in detail. The synthesized SnS2 nanostructures were characterized using an array of analytical techniques. The XRD results confirmed the formation of hexagonal SnS2, and the crystallite size varied from 6.1 nm to 19.0 nm and from 2.5 to 8.8 nm for (100) and (011) reflections, respectively. The functional group and thermal analysis confirmed the presence of organics on the surface of nanoparticles. The FE-SEM results revealed nanoparticles, nanoplates, and flakes assembled into flower-like morphologies when dodecylamine, octylamine, and oleylamine were used as capping agents, respectively. The analysis of optical properties showed the variation in the bandgap and the concentration of surface defects on the SnS2 nanoparticles. The role of alkylamine as a capping agent was explored and discussed in detail in this paper and the mechanism for the evolution of different morphologies of SnS2 nanoparticles was also proposed.

Development of Functional Nanomaterials for Applications in Chemical Engineering

“…Sazanova et al [ 1 ] reported the synthesis and characterization of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, establishing that the synthesizing parameters of zinc source temperature and reactor temperature can effectively control the size and morphology of ZnO nanostructures. Gaur and coworkers [ 2 ] synthesized SnS 2 nanoparticles using a thermal decomposition approach and produced novel morphologies (e.g., nanoparticles, nanoplates, and flower-like morphologies assembled from flakes) by using different alkylamines as capping agents. Shao and coworkers [ 3 ] synthesized the Ag@MXene hybrids and studied their nonlinear optical characteristics, making great contributions to the development of ultrathin optoelectronic nanodevices and optical limiters.…”