Investigation of structural and optical properties of pure SnO2, ZnO and SnO2/ZnO composite nanorods

Nanorods of SnO2, ZnO and SnO2/ZnO composites were successfully synthesised by the hydrothermal method in a one step process under specific conditions. The lattice strain and crystallite size of the nanorods were calculated using Williamson-Hall and Scherrer method. TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) results confirm the synthesized samples are nanorods. The various crystalline planes of the nanorods were also identified using SAED (Selected Area Electron Diffraction) Pattern. The EDS (energy dispersive spectroscopy) result confirms the chemical purity of the nanorods. Furthermore, the optical band gap of SnO2/ZnO nanocomposite was found to be lesser than the pure optical bandgaps of either SnO2 and ZnO nanorods. Various functional groups were found to be on the surface of the synthesized nanorods, from the FTIR analysis.