Synthesis and characterization of room temperature sol–gel-assisted transparent tin-doped magnesium oxide nanoparticles’ protective coating

Abstract

Using in-situ sol–gel processing, Sn-doped MgO2 nanofilm has been fabricated by spin-coating technique. Cracked and uneven distribution of particles in the composite can lead to premature failures and material cannot be used as protective coating. Therefore, homogeneous porous nanoparticles with average size 27 nm were obtained without any voids. A stoichiometric ratio of dopant and matrix with low average roughness 2.52 nm of the thin film was observed. Furthermore, the refractive index 1.30 and average film thickness 221 nm at wavelength 632.8 nm has been estimated with optical transparency up to 94 % in the visible range by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. Band gap energy of 3.12 eV has also been estimated. The experimental findings show that the prepared nanoparticles can be used as protective coatings.