Efficient Oxygen Vacancy Defect Engineering for Enhancing Visible-Light Photocatalytic Performance over SnO<sub>2−x</sub> Ultrafine Nanocrystals
Tiekun Jia,
Chenxi Sun,
Nianfeng Shi,
Dongsheng Yu,
Fei Long,
Ji Hu,
Jilin Wang,
Binbin Dong,
Jili Li,
Fang Fu,
Shujing Hu,
Joong Hee Lee
Affiliations
Tiekun Jia
Henan Province International Joint Laboratory of Materials for Solar Energy Conversion and Lithium Sodium Based Battery, Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China
Chenxi Sun
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
Nianfeng Shi
Henan Province Engineering Research Center of Industrial Intelligent Vision, Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China
Dongsheng Yu
Henan Province International Joint Laboratory of Materials for Solar Energy Conversion and Lithium Sodium Based Battery, Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China
Fei Long
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
Ji Hu
Henan Province International Joint Laboratory of Materials for Solar Energy Conversion and Lithium Sodium Based Battery, Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China
Jilin Wang
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
Binbin Dong
Henan Province International Joint Laboratory of Materials for Solar Energy Conversion and Lithium Sodium Based Battery, Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China
Jili Li
Henan Province International Joint Laboratory of Materials for Solar Energy Conversion and Lithium Sodium Based Battery, Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China
Fang Fu
Henan Province International Joint Laboratory of Materials for Solar Energy Conversion and Lithium Sodium Based Battery, Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China
Shujing Hu
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
Joong Hee Lee
Department of Nano Convergence Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Korea
Regardless of its good electron-transfer ability and chemical stability, pure Zn2SnO4 (ZSO) still has intrinsic deficiencies of a narrow spectral response region, poor absorption ability, and high photo-activated carrier recombination rate. Aiming to overcome the deficiencies above-mentioned, we designed a facile hydrothermal route for etching ZSO nanoparticles in a dilute acetic acid solution, through which efficient oxygen vacancy defect engineering was accomplished and SnO2−x nanocrystals were obtained with an ultrafine particle size. In comparison with the untreated ZSO nanoparticles, the specific surface area of SnO2−x nanocrystals was substantially enlarged, subsequently leading to the notable augmentation of active sites for the photo-degradation reaction. Aside from the above, it is worth noting that SnO2−x nanocrystals were endowed with a broad spectral response, enhancing light absorption capacity and the photo-activated carrier transfer rate with the aid of oxygen vacancy defect engineering. Accordingly, SnO2−x nanocrystals exhibited significantly enhanced photoactivity toward the degradation of the organic dye rhodamine B (RhB), which could be imputed to the synergistic effect of increasing active sites, intensified visible-light harvesting, and the separation rate of the photo-activated charge carrier caused by the oxygen vacancy defect engineering. In addition, these findings will inspire us to open up a novel pathway to design and prepare oxide compound photocatalysts modified by oxygen vacancy defects in pursuing excellent visible-light photoactivity.
