Synthesis and characterization of tin(II) selenide nanocrystalline by electron beam irradiation method

A novel method has been developed by electron beam irradiation to prepare nanocrystalline tin(II) selenide with an orthorhombic phase. Two megaelectron volt 10 mA GJ-2-II electronic accelerator is applied as radiation resource. SnCl2, Se react under 350 kGy radiation dose, and the optimal experiment condition is studied. Nanocrystalline SnSe is prepared rapidly at room temperature under atmospheric pressure, without any kind of toxic reagents. The structure and morphology of prepared SnSe nanocrystalline are analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the as-prepared SnSe is of high quality. TEM images reveal that the product was comprised of homogeneous and spherical grains and that the average grain size is about 50 nm. The optical properties of prepared SnSe nanocrystalline are characterized by using UV-vis-NTR spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The prepared SnSe nanoparticles show blue shift compare to the bulk material, and the band gap energy of SnSe nanocrystalline is obtained by using the extrapolation. The possible mechanism of the SnSe grain growth by electron beam method is proposed. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.