Structural and Morphological Study of Single-Phase Nanocrystalline Snx-0mnxs Materials Demonstrating Enhanced Electrochemical Performance and Room Temperature Ferromagnetism

In this article, Mn-doped Snx-0MnxS (XMn = 1 – 7%) were synthesized by solvothermal method and named MN1, MN2, MN3, and MN4 nanoparticles (NPs). The X-ray diffraction confirmed the single-phase orthorhombic crystal structure of the NPs. The FT-IR results showed a slight shift of the Sn-S stretching vibration towards the lower wavenumber from MN1 to MN4 NPs. The ball-like spherical shapes were observed in SEM and TEM images. The XPS spectrum of MN1 NPs confirms the binding energies of Sn, S, and Mn. EDX spectrum confirms the Sn, S and Mn elements in different ratios. To explore potential applications for supercapacitors, the nanospheres of MN1, MN2, MN3 and MN4 electrodes were used to check their cyclic voltammograms and galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements in a three electrode system in an aqueous solution of 2M KOH. The increase in the specific capacitance and energy density values of MN1 electrode from 688 to 1720 (F/g) and 60 to 544 (Wh/Kg) with Mn dopant ratifies that external impurities have improved the electrochemical properties of SnS NPs and becomes an alternative source for energy storage devices. The magnetic properties as recorded by VSM measurements demonstrated room temperature ferromagnetism, and doping Mn ions induces alteration of ferromagnetism which suggests potential applications in the data storage devices.