Compressibility and structural behavior of pure and Fe-doped SnO 2 nanocrystals

Abstract

We have performed high-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments on nanoparticles of pure tin dioxide (particle size ~30nm) and 10 mol % Fe-doped tin dioxide (particle size ~18nm). The structural behavior of undoped tin dioxide nanoparticles has been studied up to 32 GPa, while the Fe-doped tin dioxide nanoparticles have been studied only up to 19 GPa. We have found that both samples present at ~13 GPa a second-order structural phase transition from the ambient pressure tetragonal rutile-type structure (P42/mnm) to an orthorhombic CaCl2-type structure (space group Pnnm). No phase coexistence was observed for this transition. Additionally, pure SnO2 presents a phase transition to a cubic structure at ~ 24 GPa. The evolution of the lattice parameters with pressure and the room-temperature equations of state are reported for the different phases. The reported results suggest that the partial substitution of Sn by Fe induces an enhancement of the bulk modulus of SnO2. Results are compared with previous studies on bulk and nanocrystalline SnO2. The effects of pressure on Sn-O bonds are also analyzed.