ABSTRACT
Mesoporous SnO2 was prepared by a high temperature microwave assisted process using a low cost polymeric surfactant, poly(ethylene glycol). The obtained material has been characterized by several sophisticated techniques such as XRD, nitrogen adsorption, HRTEM, UV-Vis DRS, HRSEM and photoluminescence. The characterization results reveal that the obtained material exhibits a high surface area with a spherical morphology, crystalline walls and narrow mesopores. In addition, microwave process requires only a short time for the formation of mesoporous SnO2. SnO2 with no porous structure was obtained when hydrothermal technique was used. We also found that the band gap of the mesoporous SnO2 is much smaller than that of the nonporous bulk SnO2 and showed excellent photoluminescent properties.
