Role of chelating agent in chemical and fluorescent properties of SnO₂ nanoparticles

A modified polyacrylamide gel route is applied to synthesize SnO₂ nanoparticles. High-quality SnO₂ nanoparticles with a uniform size are prepared using different chelating agents. The average particle size of the samples is found to depend on the choice of the chelating agent. The photoluminescence spectrum detected at λ_ex = 230 nm shows a new peak located at 740 nm due to the surface defect level distributed at the nanoparticle boundaries.