A green approach for the synthesis of SnO2 nanoparticles and its application in the reduction of p-nitrophenol

A green synthesis of SnO2 nanoparticles was successfully developed by microwave heating method using a mixture of alcohol and glycerol, wherein glycerol acts as a capping agent. This method resulted in the formation of spherical SnO2 nanoparticles with an average diameter of ~5.0-5.5 nm. The as-prepared SnO2 nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The optical properties were investigated using UV-visible spectroscopy. These SnO2 nanoparticles were employed for the catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol in aqueous medium.