Synthesis and Characterization of SnO₂ and Fe₃O₄ Composite Grown by Microwave Method

Abstract

In this research, SnO2 and Fe3O4 composite thin film were grown on glass slides by using commercial microwave oven. The obtained samples were characterized using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and Photoluminescence (PL). The growth of SnO2 was carried out for the periods of 60 s, 50 s and 40 s with two 5-second time intervals. XRD pattern shows the presence of two phases: SnO2 and Fe3O4 in all samples of grown composites. It was found that the sample grown for 60 s having dominant SnO2 phase while for the durations of 40 s and 50 s, the phase of Fe3O4 are more dominant. The Fe3O4s phases are believed originated from chemical reaction involving the steel wool which was used to stimulate the oxidation of Sn into SnO2. SEM observations reveal heavily agglomerated spherical-like particles which size ranges from 80.6 nm to 113.6 nm. EDX analysis indicates that composites with the growth time of 60 s contain the highest weight percentage (13.52 %) of Sn, followed by those composites with the growth time of 50 s (5.47 %) and 40 s (4.31 %). UV-Vis spectroscopy shows the optical band gap energy for the 60-second growth times composite, is 3.9 eV, which is well-correlated with the value of bulk of SnO2.PL characterization shows that the peaks of the curve fall within the range between 490 nm and 900 nm. The presence of oxygen defects probably causes the deterioration of optical bandwidth. Keywords: Thin film, tin dioxide, domestic microwave