Application of Eh-pH diagram for room temperature precipitation of zinc stannate microcubes in an aqueous media

• One pot aqueous synthesis of zinc stannate (ZnSnO3) particles at low temperature.
• Synthesis designed with the assistance of potential-pH diagram.
• ZnSnO3 estimated to be stable between pH 8 and 12 was used for synthesis of the particles.
• ZnSnO3·3H2O were formed during the precipitation of zinc stannate.

Potential-pH diagram assisted-design for controlled precipitation is an attractive method to obtain engineered binary and ternary oxide particles. Aqueous synthesis conditions of zinc stannate (ZnSnO3) particles at low temperature were formulated with the assistance of potential-pH diagram. The pH of a solution containing stoichiometric amounts of Zn2+ and Sn4+ was controlled for the precipitation in a one pot synthesis step at room temperature (25 °C). The effect of the concentration of the reactants on the particle size was studied by varying the concentration of the precursor (Zn2+ + Sn4+) solution. Scanning electron micrographs show that the particles are monodispersed micron sized cubes formed by the self-organization of nano-sized crystallites. The obtained microcubes characterized by X-ray Diffraction and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) show that the particles are in ZnSnO3·3H2O form.

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