Synthesis and time-resolved photoluminescence of SnO₂ nanorods

A solvo-thermal method is employed to synthesize SnO₂ nanorods and the Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopic analysis confirms the formation of Sn–O bond. The X-ray diffraction analysis suggests that SnO₂ nanorods exist in tetragonal rutile crystal structure phase. Transmission electron microscopy images show the formation of nanorods with an average diameter ∼10–15 nm and length 35–50 nm. The deconvoluted photoluminescence spectrum suggests the existence of three distinct origins of photoluminescence, which peaks at photon energies of ∼423 nm (2.93 eV), ∼470 nm (2.64 eV) and 480 nm (2.58 eV). The measured photoluminescence kinetics is best described by a tri-exponential decay model suggesting that the photoluminescence occurs from three distinct channels with time constants 1.31 ns, 4.89 ns and 13.24 ns. These studies suggest that SnO₂ nanorods synthesized by solvo-thermal method at mild conditions can be used for luminescent device applications. The long lived emission of SnO₂ nanorods in the visible region make them suitable candidate as an active materials for many opto-electronic devices such as light emitting diodes and solar cells.