a facile synthesis and characterization of surfactant (ctab/tsc/tx-100) assisted ir-sn bimetallic nanoparticles

The present work is mainly focused on the synthesis and characterization of surfactant-assisted ir-sn bmnp (bimetallic nanoparticles) using modified polyol method. ctab (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide), tsc (trisodium citrate), and tx-100 (triton x-100) as cationic, anionic, and nonionic surfactant respectively are used to study their effect on the particle size, morphology and their stability. the synthesized particles are characterized by xrd, fe-sem, edax, elemental mapping, tem, hr-tem, xps and ft-ir, tga, dtg, and dta techniques. uv-vis spectroscopy is used to monitor the synthesis of nanoparticles. the xrd patterns of all samples confirm that ir-sn bmnp are amorphous in nature. the influence of surfactant on the morphology and particle size of ir-sn bmnp samples was examined by the fe-sem technique. the fesem figures demonstrate that the particles of bimetal are in nano size, highly dispersed, and pseudo spherical in shape with smooth surfaces. the approximate crystallite (particle/grain) size of ctab, tsc, and tx-100 assisted samples are ~1.39 nm (39 nm), ~2.2 nm (59 nm), and ~5.79 nm (89 nm) respectively, which are estimated from tem and fe-sem images. the presence and distribution of ir and sn elements in the bmnp is determined through edax and elemental mapping respectively. these techniques show that ctab assisted ir-sn bmnp sample is in alloy form but tsc and tx-100 samples are in core-shell form, where the ir core is surrounded by sn shell. the xps confirms the metallic state (ir0), and the dual valence state of sn (sn^2+ and sn^4+) is in the sn 3d core level.