Transparent, Homogeneous Tin Oxide (SnO2) Thin Films Containing SnO2-Coated Gold Nanoparticles

A sol gel-based approach to the fabrication of tin oxide (SnO2) thin films containing SnO2-coated gold nanoparticles is described. In this approach, gold nanoparticles with a mean diameter of similar to 15 nm were coated with thin layers of SnO2. The composite particles were similar to 55 nm in diameter with SnO2 shells that were similar to 20 nm thick. These nanoparticles were doped homogeneously into a SnO2 sol-gel precursor, and the mixture was deposited as a thin film via spin-coating methods. The SnO2-coated nanoparticles and the SnO2 films doped with the nanoparticles were characterized by transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM and SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical properties of the nanoparticles and the composite films were evaluated by UV-vis spectroscopy.