Preparation of tin oxide nanoparticles by laser ablation in solution

Tin oxide nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution were prepared by pulsed laser ablation of a pure fin target both in aqueous solutions and in pure water. Laser beam of 266 nm, 355 nm and 532 nm from an Nd:YAG laser were applied and the wavelength effects on preparation of tin oxide particles were examined. The particle size and phase structure were characterized by using transmission electron microscope (TEM). The observation revealed that the particle size of the nanoparticles was about 2-5 nm. Chemical components of obtained nanoparticles were analyzed by using an energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and the results demonstrated that the nanoparticles mainly consisted of Sn and O elements. Furthermore, aqueous solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) were used to study the influence of surfactant concentration on the formation of tin oxide nanoparticles. When the surfactant reached critical micelle concentration, relatively stable colloidal suspensions consisting of well-dispersed tin oxide nanoparticles were obtained. UV-vis spectrometer was used to measure the absorption of suspensions of tin oxide nanoparticles.