Large-Scale Solid-State Synthesis of Sn–SnO₂ Nanoparticles from Layered SnO by Sunlight: a Material for Dye Degradation in Water by Photocatalytic Reaction

Abstract

Phase pure spherical Sn-SnO2 nanoparticles (∼ 50 nm) in gram level have been synthesized from well-defined SnO microplates (∼ 2.0 μm) using focused solar irradiation. The first step of the reaction involves simple stirring of a strong NaOH solution with fine SnCl2·2H2O powder. Precipitated blue black microplates of SnO are finally transformed into high band gap Sn-SnO2 nanoparticles with sunlight. During the solid-state photodecomposition of microplates, spherical SnO2 nanoparticles along with tiny Sn(0) particles are evolved simultaneously. Tiny Sn(0) particles, improved surface area, stability toward adverse environmental conditions, and inherited negative surface charge electrostatically stabilize the Sn-SnO2 particle rendering it excellent water dispersible. The presence of Sn(0) nanoparticles in spherical SnO2 nanoparticles improves the charge (electrons and holes) separation efficiency. Then, the as-prepared particles selectively invite cationic dye molecules to the particle surface due to negative surface charge and degrade the dyes at a faster rate under UV light.

Preparation and characterization of TiO 2 -based nanosheets for photocatalytic degradation of acetylsalicylic acid: Influence of calcination temperature

“…Photocatalytic oxidation technology has been regarded as an effective, environmentally friendly and promising means in wastewater remediation applications [1,2]. Up to now, a wide selection of semiconductors were used as the photocatalysts such as TiO 2 [3], V 2 O 5 [4], CeO 2 [5], g-C 3 N 4 [5], Ag 3 PO 4 [6] and so on [2,4,6].…”

“…Up to now, a wide selection of semiconductors were used as the photocatalysts such as TiO 2 [3], V 2 O 5 [4], CeO 2 [5], g-C 3 N 4 [5], Ag 3 PO 4 [6] and so on [2,4,6]. Notably, over the past several decades, studies of using TiO 2 as a photocatalyst in wastewater treatment has been widely investigated and TiO 2 is still the most popular photocatalytic material owing to its intrinsic attributes, including the high photoreactivity, non-toxicity, low cost, superior oxidizability and long-lived(around 250ns) charge carriers [7][8][9][10][11].…”

Blacking FTO by strongly cathodic polarization with enhanced photocurrent

“…Therefore, the enhanced photocurrent in the presence of Sn nanoparticles for the BFTO could be mainly ascribed to improvements in solar absorption (Fig. 2c), charge separation and transportation of light-excited holes and electrons [14]. The work function of Sn is 4.42 eV [15], smaller than that of SnO 2 (4.75 eV) [16].…”

Core-Shell MnO2-SiO2 Nanorods for Catalyzing the Removal of Dyes from Water

“…A number of physical and physicochemical technologies have been developed for the removal of dyes from aqueous solutions, including adsorption techniques [3,4], membrane processes [5,6], and degradation of dyes through oxidation under the assistant of catalysts [7][8][9][10]. Various materials have been used as adsorbents for the removal of dyes, such as biocoagulants [1], fruit peels [3], and cellulose-based bioadsorbents [4].…”