A facile synthesis of hierarchical Sn3O4 nanostructures in an acidic aqueous solution and their strong visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Hierarchical tin(III) oxide, Sn3O4, nanospheres were synthesized via hydrothermal reaction under strongly acidic ambient conditions. The morphology of Sn3O4 varied with decreasing pH. The prickly Sn3O4 nanospheres changed into Sn3O4 nanospheres covered with single-crystalline nanoplates having a high BET surface area of ca. 55.05 m2·g–1 and a band gap of ca. 2.25 eV. Small amounts (0.05 g) of the hierarchical Sn3O4 nanostructures completely decomposed a 30% methyl orange (MO) solution in 100 mL deionized water within 15 min under one sun condition (UV + visible light). The Sn3O4 photocatalyst exhibited a fast decomposition rate of 1.73 × 10−1 min−1, which is a 90.86% enhancement relative to that of the commercially available P25 photocatalyst. The high photocatalytic activity of the hierarchical Sn3O4 nanostructures is attributed to its ability to absorb visible light and its high surface-to-volume ratio.