Influence of Sn4+ ion on band gap tailoring, optical, structural and dielectric behaviors of ZnO nanoparticles

[Display omitted] •Sn4+-ion doped ZnO nanoparticles were prepared by soft chemical route method.•Sn content reduced the particle size and increased the optical band gap.•PL study revealed that Violet and blue emission were received due to Sn-doping.•XRPD and TEM analysis confirmed the hexagonal structure of Sn-doped ZnO.•Dielectric permittivity was decreased due to the incorporation of Sn. II-VI semiconductors are being attracted due to excellent optical and electronic behaviors when they utilize for device fabrication. Among II-VI semiconductors, Zinc oxide finds cutting-edge results for various applications with a lack of toxicity. Sn4+ ion incorporated ZnO nanoparticles have been synthesized using a soft chemical route and characterized for the investigation of properties like structural, morphological, elemental, optical and dielectric responses. The prepared ZnO had a hexagonal structure and the particles size reduces by the influence of Sn4+ ion: this reduction rate increases for the increase of doping ratio. The average particles size was estimated within 24–34 nm. TEM, HRTEM and SEM results corroborate the structural aspects noticed using XRPD study. UV–vis study results showed that a blue shift on the optical band gap was received for high doping concentration (10 at.%) of Sn4+. PL peaks were observed in the UV region for 0 at.% and 2 at.% Sn4+ doped ZnO nanoparticles, and the peak position was shifted from UV to violet and blue region for 10 at.% Sn4+ doped ZnO nanoparticles. The dielectric permittivity was reduced due to the addition of Sn4+ ions. The AC conductivity was increased for higher doping concentrations. The Sn4+ ion incorporated ZnO nanoparticles shall be useful for various applications including LED fabrication for blue emission and also it is suitable to act as a buffer material in solar panel.