Abstract Understanding the chemistry of dopants in electride nanoparticles is essential and challenging owing to the active nature of the electride and the low atomic concentration of the dopants. In this work, we developed conductive Sn-doped C12A7:e− electride nanoparticles by a modified sol-gel method, and performed a comprehensive X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic characterization on the surface chemistry of the doped electride nanoparticles. The resulting electride Ca12Al(14−x)Snx:e− (x = 1) exhibited an electron concentration of 1.65 × 1021 cm−3 and a specific area of 53.9 m2/g. XPS results showed that Sn was in the form of Sn4+ at the surface of the doped C12A7:e− nanoparticles. The depth distribution of elements was investigated by XPS Ar+ ion and Ar cluster ion sputtering. Results showed that Sn was enriched at the surface and sputtering partially reduced Sn4+ to metallic Sn, and Ar cluster ion sputtering showed much weaker effect on the reduction of Sn4+ than the Ar+ ion sputtering. The chemical states and distribution of elements Ca, Al, O did not show obvious change after sputtering. The present study provides novel insights on the chemical states analysis of doped-C12A7:e− nanoparticles.

中文翻译：

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Sn掺杂的C12A7:e-电子纳米粒子的制备和X射线光电子能谱表征

摘要 由于电子化物的活性性质和掺杂剂的低原子浓度，了解电子化物纳米粒子中掺杂剂的化学性质是必不可少且具有挑战性的。在这项工作中，我们通过改进的溶胶-凝胶方法开发了导电 Sn 掺杂的 C12A7:e-电子纳米粒子，并对掺杂的电子纳米粒子的表面化学进行了全面的 X 射线光电子能谱表征。所得电子化合物 Ca12Al(14-x)Snx:e- (x = 1) 的电子浓度为 1.65 × 1021 cm-3，比面积为 53.9 m2/g。XPS 结果表明，在掺杂的 C12A7:e- 纳米粒子表面，Sn 以 Sn4+ 的形式存在。通过XPS Ar+离子和Ar簇离子溅射研究元素的深度分布。结果表明，Sn在表面富集，溅射将Sn4+部分还原为金属Sn，Ar簇离子溅射对Sn4+的还原作用比Ar+离子溅射弱得多。溅射后元素Ca、Al、O的化学状态和分布没有明显变化。本研究为掺杂的 C12A7:e- 纳米粒子的化学状态分析提供了新的见解。