Influence of aliovalent V 3+ substitution on physicochemical characteristics of tetragonal SnO 2 nanoparticles

Polycrystalline pristine and V 3+ modified SnO 2 NPs [Sn (1−x) V x O 2 NPs, where x = 0, 0.05, and 0.10] were synthesized using conventional sol-gel reaction route and their physicochemical investigations were carried out. Crystal structure information of all the compositions carried out using X-ray diffraction technique revealed that Sn (1−x) V x O 2 NPs, where x = 0, 0.05, and 0.10 exhibit tetragonal rutile type symmetry with space group P4_/2mnm with phase pure crystallinity. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra showed presence of hydroxyl group (–OH) and Sn-O-Sn vibrations due to hump located at 615 cm −1 confirming the formation of NPs. Microstructural analysis depicted that the grain size decreased from 40.25 ± 1.57 nm to 33.96 ± 1.16 nm with incorporation of smaller V 3+ ion in the crystal framework of host SnO 2 matrix. Dielectric studies revealed that real part of dielectric constant ( ϵ^' ) decreases with increasing the frequency of the applied bias. Maxwell Wegner model and Koop’s phenomenology were implemented to support the result. The maximum value of dielectric permittivity also decreased with increasing V 3+ ion in the compositions. I-V characteristics of pristine and V 3+ -modified SnO 2 NPs illustrated non-ohmic behavior and depicted that the resistance of the host SnO 2 decreases with V 3+ doping. PL spectra studies showed a characteristic hump located at ≈ 409 nm belonging to violet emission due to charge exchange mechanism.