Abstract
In the current work, a novel combustion method is demonstrated for the direct synthesis of nanocomposite materials. Specifically doped tin dioxide (SnO2) powders were selected for the demonstration studies due to the key role SnO2 plays in semiconductor gas sensors and the strong sensitivity of doped SnO2 to nanocomposite properties. The synthesis approach combines solid and gas-phase precursors to stage the decomposition and particle nucleation processes. A range of synthesis conditions and four material systems were examined in the study: gold - tin dioxide, palladium - tin dioxide, copper - tin dioxide, and aluminum - tin dioxide. Several additive precursors were considered including four metal acetates and two pure metals. The nanocomposite materials produced were examined for morphology, phase, composition, and lattice spacing using transmission and scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffractometry, and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. The results using the combustion synthesis approach indicate good control of the nanocomposite properties, such as the average SnO2 crystallite size, which ranged from 5.8 to 17 nm.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2977-2987 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Journal of Materials Research |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2005 |
Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering