Hydrothermal synthesis of TiO2 hollow spheres adorned with SnO2 quantum dots and their efficiency in the production of methanol via photocatalysis

Abstract

TiO hollow spheres and TiO hollow spheres adorned with SnO quantum dots were synthesized successfully under mild temperature and autogenous pressure using the hydrothermal route. X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and UV-vis spectroscopy were used to characterize the physical and chemical nature of the synthesized sample. The characterized samples were used in the photocatalytic applications to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the presence of water under the influence of visible light. Our observation confirmed that with increasing SnO content there is a tremendous change in the photocatalytic performance of the samples, due to free mobility of the electrons and holes and decline in charge recombination centers formed with the formation of nano-heterojunction between SnO and TiO. The greater photocatalytic production of methanol was achieved using 2ST sample, i.e., 1.61 μmol/g/h which tends to decrease with an increase in SnO content.

Facile Synthesis of Potassium-Doped Titanium Oxide Nanostructure (KTiOxs)/AlO(OH) Composites for Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

“…Indeed, all of the obtained KTiO x s specimens showed a higher photocatalytic activity than the untreated samples. This observation was in agreement with the remarkable photocatalytic properties reported for nanostructured titanium oxide materials with an enhanced surface area and increased electron transfer ability [2,52]. Interestingly, the 10 mol/L-KOH-treated Ti specimen showed a higher photocatalytic activity than the 1 mol/L-KOH-treated Ti.…”

Floating ZnO QDs-Modified TiO2/LLDPE Hybrid Polymer Film for the Effective Photodegradation of Tetracycline under Fluorescent Light Irradiation: Synthesis and Characterisation

“…Many semiconductor QDs have been successfully deposited on TiO 2 that all showed improved photocatalytic activity when compared with pristine TiO 2 . For instance, WO 3-x QDs [ 7 ], SnO 2 QDs [ 8 ], CdSe QDs [ 6 ], and PbS QDs [ 9 ] have been reported to exhibit enhanced photocatalytic properties. However, the photocatalysts’ main drawback is the difficult separation from the water system for their reusability.…”