Ionic liquid-assisted sonochemical synthesis of SnS nanostructures

SnS nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized by the ionic liquid-assisted sonochemical method (ILASM). The starting reagents were anhydrous SnCl2, thioacetamide, dissolved in ethanol and ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMImBF(4)) mixtures. Our experiments showed that IL plays an important role in the morphology of SnS. A 1: 1 ethanol: IL mixture was found to yield the more interesting features. The lower concentration of Sn (II) in solution favored the presence of nanoplatelets. An increase in ultrasonic time favored crystalline degree and size as well. Also, the effect of additives as 3-mercaptopropionic acid, diethanolamine, ethylene glycol, and trioctyl phosphine oxide is reported. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis-DRS) were used to characterize the obtained products. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.