Novel Solid-State Route to Nanostructured Tin, Zinc and Cerium Oxides as Potential Materials for Sensors

Solid-state sensor nanostructured materials (SnO₂, ZnO and CeO₂) have been prepared by pyrolysis of macromolecular complexes: PSP-co-4-PVP·(SnCl₂) _n , PSP-co-4-PVP·(ZnCl₂) _n and PSP-co-4-PVP·(Ce(NO₃)₃) _n in several molar ratios under air at 800 °C. The as-prepared nanostructured SnO₂ exhibits morphologies and particle sizes which are dependent upon the molar ratio of the SnCl₂:PSP-co-4-PVP. When a larger weight fraction of the inorganic salt in the precursor mixture is used (1:10 > 1:5 > 1.1) larger crystalline crystals are found for each oxide. For ZnO and CeO₂ agglomerates of morphologies from the respective hexagonal and cubic structures were observed with typical sizes of 30–50 nm in both cases for a precursor mixture ratio of 1:1.