Enhancement of photocatalytic dye degradation and photoconversion capacity of graphene oxide/SnO2 nanocomposites

Abstract

In this study, solvothermal method was adopted to successfully prepare graphene oxide (GO) supported SnO2 nanocomposites using tin tetrachloride pentahydrate and graphene oxide as raw materials, tetra-methyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) as a control agent. The synthetic materials presented the efficient capacity in the photocatalytic degradation and photoelectric conversion. In the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RB) and methylene blue (MB), sample SnO2-0.1% GO showed the optimal photocatalytic efficiencies for RB (97.26%) and MB (89.43%) degradation. According to the different degradation performances of RB and MB functional groups, we reasonably explained the electron transfer mechanism at the interface of SnO2-GO nanomaterials, and verified it in the experiment of photoelectric conversion proceed combined with titanium dioxide nanotube arrays (TiO2NTs). The enhanced photocurrent density and stability can also be effectively improved due to the effective photoelectron transfer from SnO2 to GO surface.