Parameters dependent synthesis of zinc stannate nanowires using CVD and its porphyrin dye loaded optical studies

Abstract Polycrystalline zinc stannate ( Zn 2 SnO 4 ) nanowires have been studied for its synthesis optimization using novel carbothermal catalytic method, wherein binary oxide precursors were used under inert atmosphere at variable CVD synthesis parameters. X-ray diffraction, FESEM, EDS, HRTEM, Raman and CL measurements are used to understand the typical behaviour of ternary metal oxide nanowires i.e. Zn 2 SnO 4 growth. The optimization of Zn 2 SnO 4 nanowires has been discussed via synthesis parameters followed with reaction equations corresponding to its optical and room temperature electrical properties. Further, its visible range sensitization has been demonstrated for suitable sample using zinc tetra phenyl porphyrin (ZnTPP) dye via dye adsorption method. Corresponding optical and IPCE studies of photo-electrodes shows broadened visible range absorption in 300–600 nm range and conversion efficiency of 28% (at ∼447 nm) for the nanowires having indirect band gap of ∼3.4 eV. This study opens up the potential application in photovoltaic, sensors and photo catalytic devices.