The Effectiveness of Decorating Antimony on the Structural, Optical, and Electrical Characteristics of SnO₂ Nanowires

In this study, SnO₂ nanowires and antimony (Sb) nanoparticles were synthesized using SnCl₄.5H₂O and SbCl₃ by dissolving them in acetone. The solution was sprayed onto a glass substrate via the spray pyrolysis route. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns confirmed a polycrystalline film with a tetragonal structure. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) analysis of the morphology confirmed a nanowire structure of SnO₂ and nanoparticle structure of Sb. Energy-dispersive x-ray spectra (EDX) showed that when the Sb concentration was increased, the SnO₂ weight decreased from 72% to 68%. The optical properties were comprehensively investigated by a UV-Vis spectrophotometer, which revealed that the absorbance, reflection, and extinction coefficient increased with an increase in Sb content. The energy band gap and the refractive index exhibited a decrease with the increase in Sb content from 3.92 eV to 3.8 eV and from 2.24 to 2.22, respectively. The electrical properties showed low resistivity of 6.9×10⁴ Ω.cm and high carrier concentration of 3.16×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ for 5% Sb content. The obtained characteristics make these films suitable candidates for nanoelectronics devices, due to their tunability controlled by the doping concentration, and the nanostructures of their nanoparticles adhered on the nanowires, which render them more effective for photovoltaic applications.