Synthesis of zinc stannate nanoparticles by sol-gel method for photocatalysis of commercial dyes

Abstract

Herein, we report the synthesis of Zn2SnO4 (ZTO) nanoparticles via sol-gel method at room temperature. The as-synthesized ZTO nanoparticles were characterized by using fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), powdered X-ray diffraction (pXRD), UV–visible spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Photocatalytic activity of as-prepared zinc stannate (ZTO) was tested by fabricating ZTO thin films on glass substrates. The photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) and methylene blue (MB) was estimated by using ZTO nanoparticle thin films under UV light irradiation for 1 h. Photo catalytic degradation of MO and MB by the ZTO nanocrystals showed that the ZTO acted as a potential photocatalyst under unfiltered natural sunlight of irradiation 300 W/m2. The MO dye was degraded about 73% and MB was degraded about 62% in the presence of ZTO nanoparticles respectively in 60 min.

Keywords

• Zinc stannate
• Photocatalysis
• Sol-gel
• Inorganic materials
• ZTO