This is Part A of the Thesis. Here is the Link to Part B: http://hdl.handle.net/11375/17845 / <p> This study was focused on the absorption spectra of tin dioxide thin films on optical quartz substrates. The films were doped with antimony from zero to ten percent, indium from zero to ten percent, and intrinsically, by heating undoped samples in vacuum and air. The surface resistances were also measured.</p> <p> The results for antimony doping show that the energy required for electron transitions from valence to conduction bands, the associated phonon energies, and the optical absorption by free carriers all increase while resistance decreases with increased doping. These results are consistant with antimony acting as a donor in SnO2 and elevating the Fermi level, which is in the conduction band for the undoped material, to a higher level, thus increasing the free carrier concentration. The results possibly also indicate a strain on the lattice caused by doping.</p> <p> The results for indium doping show a similar increase in energies along with a decrease in optical absorption by free carriers and an increase in resistance with increased doping. The indium acts as an acceptor and, in so doing, causes the Fermi level to drop into the valence band, at the doping levels used in this study. This is probably due to the formation of an acceptor band above or overlapping the valence band and resulting in a reduction of the free carrier concentration. The increase in phonon energy indicates that the doping imposes a strain on the lattice.</p> </p> Heating undoped films in vacuum appears to drive off oxygen resulting in reduced resistance and therefore higher free carrier concentration due to lattice defect doping, and reduced valence to conduction band transition energy possibly due to the formation of a conduction band in the forbidden band-gap. The changes were reversible by re-heating in air.</p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

This is Part B of the Thesis. Here is the Link to Part A: http://hdl.handle.net/11375/17844 / <p> This report deals with the effects of various parameters on the resistance and the temperature coefficient of resistance (or the T.C.) of tin dioxide films doped with antimony and boron. The films were produced on cylindrical ceramic substrates by the hydrolysis of SnCl4 and SbCls in the presence of HCl and H3BO3. The T.C. was measured over the range of 25 to 150°C and averaged.</p> <p> Under normal conditions, the films were produced at 950°C with an antimony concentration of 0.457 molar % and a boron concentration of 2.73 molar %. Varying this firing temperature (from 800-1100°C) was found to have no effect on the resistance but increased the T.C. by 2 to 3 ppm/°C per degree change. Varying the antimony content from 0 to about 1 molar % was found to have little effect on resistance. The effect on T.C. was to increase it at lower Sb levels and then to decrease the T.C. as the level increased.</p> <p> Varying the boron content (0 to 4.46 molar %) was also found to have little effect on resistance. A decrease in T.C. with boron content was noted when only the boron was varied, but an increase in T.C. was found when HCl and H2O volumes were varied with the boron. The introduction of additional air into the system was found to have no effect.</p> <p> Film thicknesses were varied by controlling the chemical flowrates. Thinner films were found to have dramatically higher resistances and reduced T.C. values. It was observed that below a certain flowrate resistive failure occurred in the films. It was found in this study that within the statistical distribution of film values, those samples with above average resistance had below average T.C. values and vice-versa. Annealing in vacuum at 500°C was found to produce samples of reduced resistance and increased T.C. while the opposite was found with air annealed samples. Quickly cooled samples were found to be more stable.</p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:23:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-05-21Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:09:19Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 floriano_ea_me_bauru.pdf: 894423 bytes, checksum: af1367103a69a956bc553795ee950833 (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Dióxido de estanho, 'SNO IND.2', é um material semicondutor com transição de banda de energia (bandgap) larga, sendo que para o cristal (bulk), a energia pode variar de 3,6 até 4,2 eV, dependendo do método utilizado no preparo do material e também do teórico utilizado para o cálculo do bandgap. Suas propriedades ópticas, elétricas e estruturais são responsáveis pela grande quantidade de aplicações tecnológicas, tais como sensores para deteccção de gases, dispositivos óptico-eletrônicos, varistores e mostradores (displays) de cristal liquido entre outras. A natureza de transição de bandas de energia de 'SNO IND.2' tem sido motivo de controvérsia entre vários trabalhos já publicados, tanto teóricos quanto experimentais. Neste trabalho, apresentamos uma revisão de trabalhos teóricos e experimentais, selecionados da literatura, a respeito da natureza da transição direta ou indireta do bandgap do material. Apresentamos também um estudo das propriedades ópticas e estruturais de filmes finos de 'SNO IND.2', depositados sobre substrato de vidro e principalmente sobre substrato de quartzo, pela técnica de dip-coating via sol-gel. A influência dos dopantes foi analisada através de caracterização estrutural por difração de raios-X e também de medidas de absorção óptica. Além disso, também foram realizados cálculos da estrutura de bandas de cristal (bulk), superfície (110) e superfície (101), usando métodos de Primeiros-Princípios. Estes resultados são comparados ao bandgap obtido experimentalmente através de dados de absorção óptica e fotocondutividade em função do comprimento de onda da luz. / Tin dioxide, 'SNO IND.2', is a wide bandagap semiconductor. For the bulk, the bandgap energy may vary in the range 3.6 to 4.2 eV, depending on the method used for its preparation or on the theoretical method employed for the bandgap calculation. The combination of its optical, electrical and structural properties is responsible by the large number of technological applications, such as gas sensors, opto-electronic devices, varistors and liquid crystal display, among others. The bandgap nature has been the focus of controversy among many published papers, either experimental as well as theoretical. In this work, we present a review of published theoretical and experimental papers, selected from the literature, concerning the driect or indirect bandgap nature. A study of optical and structural properties od 'SNO IND.2' thin films, deposited by sol-gel-dip-coating technique, on glass and mainly quartz substrates, is also shown. The influence of doping is also analyzed by the structural characterization through X-ray diffraction data as well as optical absorption measurements. Besides, band structure calculation is also shown, performed on bulk, besides (110) and (101) surfaces, using the First Principles method. These results are compared to experimentally obtained bandgap, through experimental data of optical absorption and photoconductivity as function of light wavelength.

Resumo: Dióxido de estanho, 'SNO IND.2', é um material semicondutor com transição de banda de energia (bandgap) larga, sendo que para o cristal (bulk), a energia pode variar de 3,6 até 4,2 eV, dependendo do método utilizado no preparo do material e também do teórico utilizado para o cálculo do bandgap. Suas propriedades ópticas, elétricas e estruturais são responsáveis pela grande quantidade de aplicações tecnológicas, tais como sensores para deteccção de gases, dispositivos óptico-eletrônicos, varistores e mostradores (displays) de cristal liquido entre outras. A natureza de transição de bandas de energia de 'SNO IND.2' tem sido motivo de controvérsia entre vários trabalhos já publicados, tanto teóricos quanto experimentais. Neste trabalho, apresentamos uma revisão de trabalhos teóricos e experimentais, selecionados da literatura, a respeito da natureza da transição direta ou indireta do bandgap do material. Apresentamos também um estudo das propriedades ópticas e estruturais de filmes finos de 'SNO IND.2', depositados sobre substrato de vidro e principalmente sobre substrato de quartzo, pela técnica de dip-coating via sol-gel. A influência dos dopantes foi analisada através de caracterização estrutural por difração de raios-X e também de medidas de absorção óptica. Além disso, também foram realizados cálculos da estrutura de bandas de cristal (bulk), superfície (110) e superfície (101), usando métodos de Primeiros-Princípios. Estes resultados são comparados ao bandgap obtido experimentalmente através de dados de absorção óptica e fotocondutividade em função do comprimento de onda da luz. / Abstract: Tin dioxide, 'SNO IND.2', is a wide bandagap semiconductor. For the bulk, the bandgap energy may vary in the range 3.6 to 4.2 eV, depending on the method used for its preparation or on the theoretical method employed for the bandgap calculation. The combination of its optical, electrical and structural properties is responsible by the large number of technological applications, such as gas sensors, opto-electronic devices, varistors and liquid crystal display, among others. The bandgap nature has been the focus of controversy among many published papers, either experimental as well as theoretical. In this work, we present a review of published theoretical and experimental papers, selected from the literature, concerning the driect or indirect bandgap nature. A study of optical and structural properties od 'SNO IND.2' thin films, deposited by sol-gel-dip-coating technique, on glass and mainly quartz substrates, is also shown. The influence of doping is also analyzed by the structural characterization through X-ray diffraction data as well as optical absorption measurements. Besides, band structure calculation is also shown, performed on bulk, besides (110) and (101) surfaces, using the First Principles method. These results are compared to experimentally obtained bandgap, through experimental data of optical absorption and photoconductivity as function of light wavelength. / Orientador: Luís Vicente de Andrade Scalvi / Coorientador: Júlio Ricardo Sambrano / Banca: Margarida Juri Saeki / Banca: Sérgio Ricardo de Lázaro / O Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia de Materiais, PosMat, tem caráter institucional e integra as atividades de pesquisa em materiais de diversos campi da Unesp / Mestre

Orientador: Luis Vicente de Andrade Scalvi / Banca: Margarida Juri Saeki / Banca: Tomaz Catunda / O Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia de Materiais, PosMat, tem caráter institucional e integra as atividades de pesquisa em materiais de diversos campi da Unesp / Resumo: A proposta deste trabalho é a investigação das propriedades elétricas e ópticas de filmes finos de dióxido de estanho (Sn'O IND. 2') obtidos via sol-gel e por solução alcoólica depositados via dip-coating, e, filmes de alumina ('Al IND. 2''O IND. 3') obtidos por deposição de filmes de alumínio (Al) via evaporação resistiva e tratamento térmico em diferentes ambientes, para promover a oxidação de Al. A investigação individual quanto às propriedades ópticas e elétricas desses materiais conhecer seu comportamento na forma de filmes, e estudar a região interfacial de Sn'O IND. 2' e 'Al IND. 2''O IND. 3'. As caracterizações estruturais dos filmes foram feitas por difração de raios-X (DRX), e, no caso dos filmes de alumina, utilizou-se também microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV) e microscopia óptica. Nas caracterizações ópticas foram utilizadas técnicas de espectroscopia na região do ultravioleta e no infravermelho próximo (UV-Vis-Nir). Tanto os filmes obtidos por meio alcoólico como obtidos via SGDC foram caracterizados como sendo de Sn'O IND. 2' de estrutura tetragonal do tipo rutilo, sendo que os filmes obtidos via processo alcoólico apresentaram condutividade elétrica maior do que os filmes obtidos via SGDC. Os resultados referentes aos filmes finos de alumínio indicam que independentemente da quantidade de camadas de alumínio depositadas e da atmosfera de tratamento térmico, tem-se a oxidação do alumínio à alumina ('Al IND. 2''O IND. 3'), sendo que a estrutura dominante depende da atmosfera de tratamento. A sua utilização como camada isolante no gate em dispositivo metal-óxido-semicondutor é viável, pois a corrente fonte-dreno apresenta valores significativamente maiores do que a corrente fonte-gate. / Abstract: The main goal of this work is the investigation of properties of tin dioxide (Sn'O IND. 2') and alumina ('Al IND. 2''O IND. 3) thin films. The first one was obtained through the sol-gel process as well as alcoholic solution, via dip-coating. The alumina thin films were obtained by resistive evaporation of aluminum (Al) followed by thermal annealing in distinct atmospheres, to promote the Al oxidation. The individual investigation of optical and electrical properties of these materials aims the knowledge of their behavior as thin films, which allows studying the interface layer of the heterojunction Sn'O IND. 2' e 'Al IND. 2''O IND. 3'. Structural characterization of films was carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and particularly on the alumina films, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy were done. For the optical characterization, wide spectra were obtained, with spectroscopy from ultraviolet to near infrared (UV-Vis-Nir). Either the films obtained in the alcoholic solution as well as via SGDC, where characterized as Sn'O IND. 2' of tetragonal structure of rutile type, and the films obtained through alcoholic process present electrical conductivity higher than the films obtained via SGDC. Results on aluminum thin films indicate that independent on the amount of deposited aluminum and thermal annealing atmosphere, the oxidation of aluminum to alumina ('Al IND. 2''O IND. 3) takes place, but the dominant alumina structure depends on the thermal annealing atmosphere. Besides, its utilization as insulating layer at the gate of a metal-oxide semicondutor device is achievable, because the source-drain current is significantly higher than the source-gate current. / Mestre

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-03-18Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T21:02:05Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 sano_dmc_dr_bauru.pdf: 2390435 bytes, checksum: c70bb14dca9d8503f9a9ce373ebe90a2 (MD5) / Neste trabalho foi realizada a simulação numérica da fase líquida no processo de deposição de filmes finos pela técnica de molhamento (dip-coating), via sol-gel, utilizando como aplicação soluções precursoras de dióxido de estanho (Sn'IND. 2'). Dióxido de estanho é um semicondutor transparente de gap largo, amplamente utilizado em muitos tipos de dispositivos. Além da técnica convencional, o trabalho analisa uma nova proposta da técnica de deposição dip-coating onde a solução se encontra em uma temperatura diferente da ambiente. Para ambas as técnicas foram realizadas a modelagem matemática dos problemas e desenvolveu-se um método numérico apropriado baseado no método MAC (Marker and Cell). O problema foi resolvido em coordenadas cartesianas bidimensionais e as equações foram discretizadas pela técnica de diferenças finitas. Os resultados numéricos são visualizados por meio da distribuição de temperatura e vetores velocidade da solução precursora, que fornecem subsídios para investigação da influência dos vetores velocidade na obtenção de filmes com boas propriedades, em relação à uniformidade e homogeneidade. Verifica-se que estas características refletem diretamente na qualidade óptica dos filmes investigados, tornando-se parâmetros importantes para aplicações em dispositivos opto-eletrônicos. Através dos resultados numéricos verificou-se que nas regiões do fluido próximas ao substrato, os módulos dos vetores velocidade são maiores, há uma maior quantidade de material sendo depositado. Notou-se também, através da distribuição de velocidades em direção ao substrato que o filme tem uma melhor uniformidade na sua espessura quando os vetores velocidade possuem os valores de seus módulos mais próximos uns dos outros. Portanto, mudando os parâmetros iniciais de viscosidade, densidade, velocidade de imersão/emersão do substrato ou temperatura no fluido pode-se estudar o comportamento. / In this work, the numerical simulation of liquid phase in the thin film deposition, by the sol-gel-dip-coating technique, was carried out. The method was applied to tin dioxide (Sn'IND. 2') solutions. Tin dioxide is a transparent semiconductor of wide bandgap, extensively used in many types of devices. Besides the conventional procedure, this work analyses a new proposal for the deposition technique, where the solution is heated above room temperature. In both cases, the mathematical modeling was done and the appropriated numerical method was developed, based on MAC (Marker and Cell) approach. The problem was solved in two-dimensional Cartesian coordinates and the equations were discretized by the finite difference technique. The numerical results are visualized through temperature and vector velocity distributions in the precursos solution, yielding subsides to the investigation of the influence of vectors velocity in the deposition of good property films, concerning uniformity and homogeneity. It was verified that these characteristics point directly toward the optical quality of investigated films, becoming important parameters for application in optoelectronic devices. The numerical results allow verifying that in the fluid regions close to the substrate, where the velocity modulus is highter, there is a larger amount of material being deposited. It was also noticed, through the velocity distribution towards the substrate, that the film has a better thickness uniformity when the vectors velocity have modulus values closer to each other. Therefore, changing initial parameters such as viscosity, density, substrate dipping rate or fluid temperature, it is possible to evaluate the fluid behavior during the thin film deposition.

Os eletrodos a base de SnO2 apresentam um elevado sobrepotencial para a reação de geração do oxigênio, boa resistência à corrosão e têm um custo relativamente baixo. Devido a essas características, os mesmos têm uma aplicação potencial como anodos para a destruição eletroquímica de poluentes orgânicos. Entretanto, o tempo de vida útil desses eletrodos é bastante limitado, devido a fenômenos de corrosão da camada que ocorrem durante a polarização anódica. Portanto, o conhecimento das características físico-químicas de tais eletrodos é fundamental para o desenvolvimento de anodos a base de SnO2 com maior estabilidade eletroquímica. Este trabalho tratou do estudo eletroquímico dos eletrodos a base de SnO2-SbOx, depositados termicamente sobre titânio, em meio de H2SO4 0,5 M. Tratou também, do estudo da eletro-oxidação do íon cianeto empregando esses eletrodos de filmes suportados. As características eletroquímicas e físicas do eletrodo de SnO2-SbOx, contendo ou não RuO2 foram estudadas através de voltametria cíclica (VC), tempo de vida útil e espectroscopia de impedância eletroquímica (EIE) e análise da superfície por microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV), espectroscopia por dispersão de energia por raios-X (EDX) e difratometria de raios-X. Os voltamogramas cíclicos obtidos com os eletrodos de SnO2 e SnO2-RuO2(x), onde x = 30, 5, 1 e 0,4% mostraram que o potencial de oxidação da água, diminui bastante com o aumento de RuO2 no eletrodo. Os ensaios de tempo de vida, aplicando uma corrente de 10 mA cm-2 no eletrodo. mostraram que no SnO2, o potencial inicial é de 3 V e depois de 1 hora aumenta rapidamente para 5 V. No eletrodo de SnO2-RuO2(1%), o potencial também começa em 3 V, mas a vida útil termina após 20 horas, enquanto que no SnO2-RuO2(30%), mesmo depois deste período, o potencial ainda permanece em 1,3 V. Nos voltamogramas cíclicos do eletrodo de SnO2 e SnO2-RuO2(1%), observa-se na primeira varredura, uma grande corrente anódica que se toma muito pequena na segunda varredura. A corrente da primeira varredura é maior no eletrodo de SnO2-SbOx, e pode estar associada a oxidação do Ti do substrato. Os diagramas de impedância dos eletrodos de SnO2 e SnO2-RuO2(1%) obtidos nos potenciais de repouso e na oxidação da água, podem ser ajustados pelo mesmo circuito equivalente, cujos elementos podem ser atribuídos ao efeito da transferência de carga superficial e a um processo de difusão na camada do filme de Óxido. Os resultados mostram que no eletrodo de SnO2-RuO2(1%) as resistências do filme de óxido e de transferência de carga são menores que no SnO2. As micrografias da superfície do SnO2-SbOx, mostraram que é rugosa e consiste de aglomerados de pequenas partículas, enquanto que no SnO2-RuO2(1 %) é mais compacta. A análise quantitativa por difratometria de raios-X mostrou que no eletrodo de Ti/ SnO2-SbOx, existe um óxido com composição Sn1-xTixO2 entre a superfície do titânio e o SnO2. Com a adição de RuO2(1%), a quantidade deste óxido misto diminui de 12,9% para 5,2%. / Tin dioxide based electrodes have a high overpotential for the OER and are relatively cheap. Due to these characteristics, they have a potential application is waste water treatment as anodes for electrochemical destruction of organics and inorganics. However, the service life of such electrodes are relatively short due to corrosion of the oxide layer during electrolysis. Thus, the knowledge of the physical and electrochemical characteristic of the material is highly desirable for future development of SnO2-based anodes with a better electrochemical performance. This work reports on the electrochemical studies of SnO2-SbOx, layers thermally deposited on Ti, in 0.5 M H2SO4. This work also reports on the cyanide ion electrooxidation using those oxide anodes. The electrochemical behavior and physical characteristics of SnO2-SbOx based electrodes, with and without the addition of RuO2, were studied by means of cyclic voltammetry, service life measurements, electrochemical irnpedance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, EDX and X-rays diffraction. The resulting cyclic voltammograms obtained using SnO2-SbOx, and SnO2-SbOx-RuO2(x), x = 30, 5, 1 and 0.4 %) showed that the OER overpotential decreased with the addition of RuO2. Service life studies, evaluated by the application of a constant current of 10 mAcm-2 to the electrodes revealed that the potential of a SnO2 electrode after 1 hour departed fom its initial value, 3 V, reaching a value of 5 V elapsed 7 hours. Using a SnO2-RuO2 (1 %) electrode, the potential remained constant at 3.0 V for 10 hours and increased slowly afterwards. However, addition of 30% RuO2 to the oxide film resulted in a decrease in the electrode potential to 1.3 V, which remained constant for at least 8 hours. Repetitive triangular potential voltammetry applied to the SnO2 electrode revealed that during the first potential scan appeared and anodic current, which is higher than the corresponding for the SnO2-RuO2 (1 %) electrode. This is explained in terms of the oxidation of the Ti substrate and the lesser porosity of the latter. AC I mpedance diagrams obtained for the Ti/ SnO2-SbOx and Ti/ SnO2-SbOx-RuO2 electrodes at the rest potential and at a potential in the OER region can be explained by a single equivalent circuit containing tvm elements in series. These elements being attributed to the effect of the surface charge transfer and an effect of the difíusion process in the tin oxide layer. The results showed that the charge transfer resistance and the resistance of the oxide film are lower in the containing Ruo2 oxide film. Surface analysis of the electrodes Ti/ SnO2-SbOx, revealed that they are relatively porous and formed by clusters of small particles, while the Ti/SnO2-SbOx-RuO2 (1 %) film is more compact. X-rays diffraction analysis showed that a Sn1-xTixO2 oxide is formed on the Ti/SnO2-SbOx, electrode. With the addition of 1% RuO2 the percentage of that oxide decreased from 12.9 to 5.2 %. An explanation to this fact is given.

L'objectif de cette recherche est d’explorer de nouvelles voies dans le domaine de la détection de gaz en ajustant finement la nature chimique, la texture et la morphologie de la couche active pour concevoir de nouveaux capteurs de gaz sélectifs. Ainsi, l’obtention de matériau présentant une haute sélectivité vis-à-vis des gaz constitue un enjeu majeur dans le domaine des capteurs de gaz. Notre approche est basée sur la conception de précurseurs moléculaires uniques - les alcynylorganoétains - qui contiennent toutes les fonctionnalités requises pour obtenir des matériaux hybrides stables par le procédé sol-gel, ces matériaux permettant une détection sélective des gaz nocifs / toxiques. Puis, les propriétés de détection de gaz de ces matériaux ont été comparées à celles de nanoparticules de dioxyde d'étain (SnO2) synthétisées à pression autogène. Une série de matériaux fonctionnels à base d'organooxoétains a été déposé sous forme de films minces films par le procédé d’enduction centrifuge puis ces films ont été caractérisés par des mesures de XRD, FT-IR, RAMAN, AFM, SEM, TEM, sorption d’azote et TGA-DTA. Les études de détection de gaz montrent que l'un des oxydes d'organoétain hybride présente une réponse sélective de détection de gaz tels que le CO, H2, l'éthanol, l'acétone et le NO2, tandis que les nanoparticules SnO2 conduisent à une détection non sélective des m^mes gaz dans les mêmes conditions. Ainsi, la meilleure sélectivité vis-à-vis du CO (à 100 et 200 ppm), de H2 (à 100, 200 et 400 ppm) et de NO2 (à 1, 2, 4 et 8 ppm) a été obtenue à 100 ° C pour le matériau hybride organostannique tandis que ce matériau ne conduisait à aucune réponse avec l’éthanol et l’acétone. Par ailleurs, les films de SnO2 nanoparticulaire sont sensibles à tous les gaz testés à de faibles concentrations (CO: 10 ~ 100 ppm, NO2: 0,5 à 4 ppm, H2: 100 à 800 ppm, acétone: 25 à 200 ppm, éthanol : 10 ~ 100 ppm) sur une plage de température comprise entre 200 et 400 °C. En outre, la sélectivité des matériaux SnO2 vis-à-vis de NO2 (entre 0,5 à 4 ppm) peut être optimisée en contrôlent bien la température de détection. Enfin, les matériaux à base d’organoétains et de dioxyde d’étain présentent une capacité de détection de gaz très élevée à de faibles concentrations en gaz. Ces résultats ont permis de développer une classe de matériaux entièrement nouvelle pour la détection sélective de gaz ainsi offrent la possibilité d'intégrer une fonctionnalité organique dans les oxydes métalliques capables de détecter les gaz. / The ultimate objective of this research is to draw new prospects in the gas sensing field by finely tuning the chemical nature, the texture and the morphology of the active layer to develop new type selective gas sensors. High gas selectivity has been a challenging issue during the past decades in the gas sensing area. Our approach is based on the design of molecular single precursors – alkynylorganotins which contain suitable functionalities required to obtain stable hybrid materials by the sol-gel method exhibiting selective gas detection towards harmful/toxic gases. Their gas sensing properties have been compared with those of tin dioxide (SnO2) nanoparticles synthesized by the hydrothermal route. A series of functional organooxotin-based materials have been processed as films by the spin or drop coating method and characterized by XRD, FT-IR, RAMAN, AFM, SEM, TEM, N2 sorption and TGA-DTA measurements. Gas sensing studies show that one of the hybrid organotin oxides exhibits an outstanding selective gas sensing response towards various gases, such as CO, H2, ethanol, acetone and NO2 whereas SnO2 nanoparticles present non-selective gas sensing ability under the same experimental condition. Thus, the best gas selectivity toward CO (at 100 and 200 ppm), H2 (at 100, 200 and 400 ppm) and NO2 (at 1, 2, 4 and 8 ppm) was achieved at 100 °C for the hybrid organooxotin-based film, however, it showed no response to ethanol/acetone at the same working temperature. On the other hand, the nanoparticulate SnO2 films prepared are sensitive to all the gases tested at low concentrations (CO: 10~100 ppm; NO2: 0.5~4 ppm; H2: 100~800 ppm; acetone: 25~200 ppm; ethanol: 10~100 ppm) in an operating temperature range from 200 to 400 °C. Moreover, the selectivity of SnO2 materials towards NO2 (between 0.5 ~ 4 ppm) can be optimized by well-manipulating the sensing temperatures. Finally, both organooxotin-based and tin oxide-based materials display superior gas sensing ability at low gas concentrations which opens a fully new class of gas sensing materials as well as a new possibility to integrate organic functionality in gas sensing metal oxides.

This thesis is about the kinetics of anisotropic acidic/hydrothermal dissolution of apatite bulk single crystal vs. nanorods, and the kinetic phase change of dense nanocondensates of SnO2 vs. Ni-dissolved SnO2 prepared by laser ablation condensation technique. In the first regard, directional dissolution of a natural (OH,F,Cl)-bearing apatite has been studied at various solution pH values (0~3) and 30 oC. This apatite showed abnormally high O-H stretching frequencies due to the substitution of Cl for OH. The advance of dissolution front indicated that steady-state directional dissolution for pH = 0-2 followed an apparent rate law of rate(mole / m2h)¡×kaH+n, where the rate constants (k) are 2.15 and 1.61; and the rate orders (n) are 1.44 and 1.30 for [0001] and <11 0> directions, respectively. Previous study, however, indicated a smaller n value (n = 0.55~0.70) for fluorapatite powders at higher pHs. A nonlinear pH dependence of logarithmic dissolution rate at a wide pH range implied that the surface active sites and/or rate-determining steps have changed when the acidity of solution and/or the composition of the apatite were changed. The opening of etch pits on basal planes further indicated that the dissolution rates along the three principal directions have the following relationship: [0001] > <11-20> > <10-10> for pH=0-1, but the order was reversed for pH > 3. As a comparison, static immersion of needle-like hydroxyapatite nanoparticles in neutral hydrothermal solution at 100oC caused preferential dissolution along the crystallographic c-axis to form nanorods with a lower aspect ratio. The anisotropic dissolution behavior is due to diffusion-controlled rapid dissolution at the sharp tip, and interface-controlled dissolution at side surfaces in terms of active sites. Extensive dissolution was accompanied with amorphization via explosive generation of dislocations, forming corrugated surface with both negative and positive curvature regions. The amorphous residue was significantly Ca and OH depleted when treated in the hydrothermal solution at pH=3. The BET specific surface area of the apatite nanoparticles remained 45¡Ó1 m2/g after immersion in neutral solution at 100oC for 36 h, but drastically decreased to 24.5 m2/g in acidic (pH =3) solution at 100oC for 8 h due to coalescence of the partially amorphized apatite powders. The specific surface area and average pore size also remained nearly unchanged for the dry pressed powders subject to firing at 100oC, but decreased and increased, respectively when sintered shortly at 600oC in air. BJH measurements at 77 K indicated the N2 adsorption/desorption hysteresis loops shift toward high relative pressure for sintered/hydrothermally etched powders indicating a higher activation energy of forming overlain liquid-like nitrogen layers. This can be attributed to a lower surface energy of the powders due to their shape change and/or partial amorphization. Alternatively, desorption through cavitation via the small voids could occur, in particular for such treated samples with characteristic bimodal pore size distribution. In the second subject, dense SnO2 with fluorite-type related structures were synthesized via very energetic Nd-YAG laser pulse irradiation of oxygen-purged Sn target. Combined effects of rapid heating to very high temperatures, nanophase effect, and dense surfaces account for the condensation of fluorite-type structure which transformed martensitically to baddeleyite-type accompanied with twinning, commensurate shearing and shape change. Alternatively Pa-3-modified fluorite-type hardly survived transformation to a-PbO2 type and rutile type in the dynamic process analogous to the case of static decompression. In addition, the rutile-type SnO2 nanocondensates have {110}, {100} and {101} facets, which are beneficial for {~hkl} vicinal attachment to form edge dislocations, faults and twinned bicrystals. The {011}-interface relaxation, by shearing along <011> directions, accounts for a rather high density of edge dislocations near the twin boundary thus formed. The rutile-type SnO2 could be alternatively transformed from orthorhombic CaCl2-type structure (denoted as o) following parallel crystallographic relationship, (0 1)r//(0 1)o; [111]r//[111]o, and full of commensurate superstructures and twins parallel to (011) of both phases. Furthermore, SnO2-NiO solid solution (ss) condensates were fabricated by laser ablation on Ni-Sn target at 1.1 J/pulse and oxygen flow of 50 L/min. AEM observations indicated that the particles were more or less coalesced/agglomerated as nano chain aggregate or in close packed manner. The Ni-rich condensates have rock salt structure with defect clusters not in paracrystalline distribution as would otherwise develop into the spinel phase. The Sn-rich condensates are predominantly rutile-type with minor baddeleyite-type, which are vulnerable to martensitic transformation/relaxation to form {101} incommensuare faults as well as epitaxial twin variants of rutile upon rapid cooling and/or electron irradiation. Islands of metallic Ni-Sn-NiSn were partially oxidized/solidified when deposited on silica glass.