A facile bio-replicated synthesis of SnO2 motifs with porous surface by using pollen grains of Peltophorum pterocarpum as a template

• Pollen grains of Peltophorum pterocarpum were used as a biotemplate.
• SnO2 motifs were prepared by using these pollen grains, for the first time.
• The method is green, economic and handy.
• Can be used for the preparation of many porous oxide materials.
• They were studied for structure, microstructure and spectroscopic behavior.

A bio-economical route for synthesizing highly crystalline SnO2 motifs with porous structures have been developed with the help of naturally obtained Peltophorum pterocarpum pollen grains. Fresh and dried pollen grains were directly used for the synthesis after rinsing with anhydrous ethanol. Stirring procedure with tin (IV) chloride pentahydrate solution followed by a suitable heat treatment provided a well-structured pollen morphology to the inorganic SnO2 motifs. The synthesized micro porous SnO2 motifs were characterized by DSC-TGA, XRD, UV–visible spectroscopy, SEM and TEM, BET and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). The SnO2 motifs had a tetragonal rutile crystal structure and its maximum band gap was found to be 4.26 eV. The motifs were made up of SnO2 nanoparticles of size in the range from 16 to 25 nm as obtained from TEM analysis. The maximum BET surface area was found to be 82.72 m2g−1. The EELS analysis provided the elemental composition present in SnO2 motifs. A facile method for the production of micro porous SnO2 motifs along with their characteristics is elucidated in this report.

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