Characterization of Synthesized SnO2 Nanoparticles and its Application for the Photo Catalytic Degradation of Eosin Y in Aqueous Solution

Abstract

The synthesized oxide (SnO2) nanoparticles by sol-gel method were characterized using UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-rays diffraction(XRD) and Scanning electron microscopy(SEM). Using X-rays diffraction analysis different parameter were calculated such as crystallite size, d-spacing, dislocation density, number of unit cell, cell volume, morphological index, micro strain and instrumental broadening. The average particle size was 28.396 nm. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that SnO2 nanopartcles are uniformly distributed. Optical properties such as band gap (energy gap = 3.6 eV) was calculated from UV-Visible spectroscopy. The characterized particles were used as photocatalyst for the degradation of Eosin dye in aqueous solution under UV light. The effect of different parameters i.e irradiation time, initial dye concentration, pH of the medium and catalyst weight on percent degradation was also studied. Mmaximum dye degradation was found at 220 minutes time interval that was 92 % using 10 ppm solution. At pH 5 the degradation of dye was found to be 94%. The catalyst dose of 0.06 g was found to be the optimum weight for the best photo catalytic degradation of Eosin Y.