Synthesis and characterization of Zn-doped mesoporous SnO2 by using thermally-stable block copolymer templates

By using novel triblock copolymer templates, thermally-stable ordered mesoporous SnO2 thin films are synthesized through a solvent evaporation method. Owing to the high thermal stability of the triblock copolymer, the mesoporous structure is retained even after calcination at 600 degrees C. After the crystallization, the mesopore walls consist of small crystallite nanoparticles a few nanometers in diameter. By doping Zn species into the SnO2 framework, fine control of the crystallite sizes is successfully achieved. Under the optimized Zn content, the well-defined mesoporous structure is completely maintained after calcination at 600 degrees C.