Nanocrystalline barium stannate: facile morphology-controlled preparation, characterization and investigation of optical and photocatalytic properties

Pure cubic nanocrystalline barium stannate was synthesized by new simple coprecipitation strategies that employed tin (II) chloride and [bis(salicylaldehydato) barium (II)] as tin and barium sources in presence of tetramethylethylenediamine (TMED) as a novel precipitating agent. This work is the first successful attempt for the preparation of nanostructured barium stannate by utilizing TMED via a facile coprecipitation way in presence of tin (II) chloride and [bis(salicylaldehydato) barium (II)]. The structural, optical and morphological characteristics of the as-prepared nanostructured barium stannate were studied by UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX). According to the SEM results, it was found that shape and size of the barium stannate can be dramatically controlled by setting critical preparation factors such as the barium source, precipitating agent type, reaction pH, surfactant type and dosage of surfactant. The photocatalytic characteristics of as-obtained nanocrystalline barium stannate were also examined by degradation of erythrosine dye as water contaminant.