Enhanced solar-light-driven photocatalytic activity of surfactant-assisted Sn4+-doped ZnO

Abstract

The suggested work concentrates on preparing ZnO and the surfactant sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP)-assisted pure and Sn4+-doped ZnO photocatalysts to degrade the organic dye methyl orange (MO). For that, a low-temperature hydrothermal technique was employed. For preparing the surfactant-assisted Sn-doped ZnO photocatalyst, varied levels (5, 10 and 15 mM) of Sn4+ ions have been employed. The prepared products were investigated for their structural, optical and morphological properties. The results of structural analysis reveal the hexagonal wurtzite phase of ZnO. The band gap of ZnO estimated using Kubelka–Munk function revealed a reduction from 3.34 to 3.28 eV on 5 mM of Sn4+ doping and then stepped up as the concentration of doping increases. The photocatalytic response of the catalysts was analysed to degrade the organic dye methyl orange (MO) under solar light irradiation. The surfactant-assisted ZnO doped with 5 mM of Sn4+ ions displayed better performance (90%) than the ZnO (76%) and the surfactant-assisted ZnO (80%) in MO degradation.