Preparation and ac electrical characterizations of Cd doped SnO2 nanoparticles

Nanoparticles (NPs) of the Sn1-xCdxO2 (0.0 a parts per thousand currency sign x a parts per thousand currency sign 0.04) were synthesized through soft chemistry method. These NPs were characterized for structural, morphological and electrical properties by X-ray diffraction, High resolution transmission electron microscopy and dielectric spectroscopy techniques respectively. Structural analysis confirms that all the NPs are having single phase rutile tetragonal structure. The NPs are of spherical shape and average size of these is found to decrease with Cd doping. Dielectric permittivity and AC conductivity of all the NPs were evaluated as a function of frequency and composition at room temperature. The frequency response of epsilon(r), epsilon(i), tan delta and sigma (ac) show that the dispersion is due to the interfacial polarization and these parameters decrease with doping of Cd in the SnO2 matrix. The possible correlation between observed dielectric properties and size of NPs, and hence disorder in the system are explored.