Bowling selleck chemicals llc pin-like nanostructures are the main morphological structures

shown in Figure 1c. The diameter of the bottom part of stem of the nanostructures was between 40 and 80 nm. The nanostructures in Figure 1b,c also had particles at the tip. Figure 2 shows the corresponding XRD patterns of the various In-Sn-O nanostructure samples shown in Figure 1. The XRD results showed several Bragg reflections that corresponded to the cubic bixbyite of the In2O3-based phase. Several small Bragg reflections from metallic Sn appear in Figure 2a, but not in Figures 2b,c, suggesting that a high degree of metallic Sn might have been present in sample 1. NSC 683864 Figure 1 SEM images of In-Sn-O nanostructures: (a) sample 1, (b) sample 2, and (c) sample 3. Figure 2 XRD patterns of In-Sn-O nanostructures: (a) sample 1, (b) sample 2, and (c) sample 3. The Sn atomic percentages and chemical GSK458 price binding states of the constitutive elements of the samples were characterized using the narrow scan XPS spectra. The Sn atomic percentages of samples 1, 2, and 3 were 6.9%, 3.8%, and 3.4%, respectively. Sample 1 had a relatively large Sn content. The XPS spectra of Sn 3d 5/2 showed an asymmetric curve. The

detailed Gaussian-resolved results show that the two components were centered on 486.5 and 485.0 eV (Figure 3a,b,c). The relatively high binding energy component (SnI) was ascribed to a Sn4+ valence state and that with a low binding energy (SnII) was associated with metallic Sn [18, 19]. The intensity ratio of SnII/(SnI + SnII) increased as the total Sn atomic percentages of the samples increased. Differences in morphology, particularly the dimension of the tip particles and the density of the nanostructures, might account for the various contents of metallic Sn in the samples. The composition and structure of the tip particles are identified in the following sections using TEM-EDS

measurements. Figure 4a,b,c shows that the binding energies of In 3d 5/2 were centered on 444.6 to 444.7 eV; these energies were associated with the In3+ bonding state from In2O3[20, 21]. No small shoulder was observed at the lower binding energy side of the In 3d peaks, indicating Selleck Pazopanib that no In-In bonds existed in the In-Sn-O nanostructures [20]. Figure 5a,b, c shows the asymmetric O 1 s peaks of the samples. Two Gaussian-resolved peaks were centered on approximately 529.5 and 530.8 eV. The lower binding energy component (OI) was associated with oxygen in the oxide crystal, whereas the higher binding energy component (OII) represented the oxygen ions in the oxygen-deficient regions. Oxygen vacancies usually form in oxide nanostructures manufactured using thermal evaporation in an oxygen-deficient environment [22]. The oxygen vacancy content in the crystalline In-Sn-O nanostructures was defined as an intensity ratio: OII/(OI + OII). The ratios for samples 1, 2, and 3 were 0.39, 0.28, and 0.21, respectively.