Synthesis of Zn2SnO4 powders via hydrothermal method for ceramic targets

The preparation of (SnO2)x(ZnO)1−x powder as a ceramic target material via hydrothermal synthesis within a broad range of x values (x = 0–1) was investigated. The phase development and particle characteristics of the Zn2SnO4 powders were evaluated. The phase formations of the (SnO2)x(ZnO)1−x system in the range from x = 0.0 to 1.00 were mapped, and the ZnO, SnO2 and Zn2SnO4 phases were found to depend on the changing x value. The effects of the processing parameters, including the treatment temperature (180–220 °C), time (0–24 h) and initial concentrations of precursors (Sn:Zn = 0.125:0.3, 0.2:0.48, 0.25:0.6, 0.35:0.84, 0.5:1.20), on the formation mechanism of Zn2SnO4 were discussed in detail. Almost single phase Zn2SnO4 occurs only when x = 0.29 (Zn/Sn = 2.4:1) for the (SnO2)x(ZnO)1−x composite system at 220 °C for 24 h. The results reveal that the target prepared from synthesized Zn2SnO4 powder can be successfully used to develop thin film transistor channels.