Abstract
In this work, Mn doped SnO2 loaded with a (0.5 g) corn cob activated carbon (Mn: SnO2/CCAC) are successfully synthesized by chemical precipitation method and its photocatalytic performance was estimated by photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) under sunlight irradiation. The materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–Vis, DRS), photoluminescence (PL), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis. The XRD results confirmed the rutile tetragonal crystalline structure and average crystalline size is decreased (13.79 nm) upon Mn doping and CCAC loading samples. The band gap value (Mn: SnO2/CCAC) is decreased (3.49 eV) compared to pure SnO2 and Mn doped SnO2 samples. Further, reduced PL emission intensity of Mn: SnO2/CCAC and its reduced value of impedance from EIS analysis and enhanced separation of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs, supports the enhanced photodegradation efficiency. As a result, the optimum Mn (0.10 M) doped SnO2/CCAC of the removal efficiency (97.76%) of MB dye reveals both improves photocatalysts (Mn-doped SnO2) and adsorption (CCAC) under sunlight within 120 min. The mechanism for the enhancement of photocatalytic activity under sunlight irradiation is also proposed.
Published Version
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