Single step synthesis of reduced graphene oxide/SnO2 nanocomposites for potential optical and semiconductor applications

Abstract Synthesis of graphene composites are ubiquitous, but efficient method of synthesis of graphene composites are rare. Herein, in this work we describe a single step method using pressure cooker for the synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/SnO2 nanocomposite using graphene oxide (GO) and tin chloride (SnCl2·2H2O) as the starting materials. The RGO/SnO2 nanocomposite was characterized by Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), Raman spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Photo Luminescence spectroscopy (PL). The size of the SnO2 nanoparticles deposited on the graphene sheets is less than 10 nm. The obtained RGO/SnO2 nanocomposite showed high capacity and excellent efficiency in optical applications. First principle calculations reveal that RGO/SnO2 nanocomposite attributes a strong electronic interaction between the tin oxide and graphene. To explore the potential optical capability of reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/SnO2 nanostructure, three plausible configurations were relaxed based on the estimated relative energies. The overall study projected this nanohybrid material for potential applications in semiconductor industries.