Nanostructured layered Sn3O4 for hydrogen production and dye degradation under sunlight

作者：Balgude S D; Sethi Y A; Kale B B^*; Munirathnam N R; Amalnerkar D P; Adhyapak P V^*

来源：RSC Advances, 2016, 6(98): 95663-95669.

DOI：10.1039/c6ra20058c

Nanostructured layered Sn3O4 nanoplatelets were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method. At low pH, the formation of SnO2 was observed due to the existance of Sn(II). By tuning the pH of the hydrothermal reaction, Sn3O4 was conferred. The broadening of XRD peaks reveals the existance of nanocrystalline triclinic Sn3O4, which was also confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. Morphological examination displays the nanostructured layered plate- like structure with diameter of 20 nm and length of 100-150 nm. The optical band gap was observed to be 2.76 eV for Sn3O4. Considering the band gap was in the visible light region, investigations on the photocatalytic production of hydrogen and dye degradation were performed under sunlight. A maximum hydrogen evolution (3916 mu mol h(-1)/0.5 g) was obtained using the Sn3O4 nanoparticles, which is much higher than that found with SnO2 (729 mmol h(-1)/0.5 g) due to narrowing of the band gap. Hydrogen production from H2S using Sn3O4 was reported for the first time. Sn3O4 also demonstrates excellent dye degradation activity. The high photocatalytic activity of Sn3O4 was attributed to its nanocrystalline nature and narrowing of the band gap.

• 出版日期2016