Abstract
Recent studies have shown that SnO2-based nanocomposites offer excellent electrical, optical, and electrochemical properties. In this article, we present the facile and cost-effective fabrication, characterization and testing of a new SnO2-PbS nanocomposite photocatalyst designed to overcome low photocatalytic efficiency brought about by electron-hole recombination and narrow photoresponse range. The structure is fully elucidated by X-ray diffraction (XRD)/Reitveld refinement, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) spectrum imaging analysis demonstrates the intermixing of SnO2 and PbS to form nanocomposites. A charge separation mechanism is presented that explains how the two semiconductors in junction function synergistically. The efficacy of this new nanocomposite material in the photocatalytic degradation of the toxic dye Rhodamine B under simulated solar irradiation is demonstrated. An apparent quantum yield of 0.217 mol min(-1) W(-1) is calculated with data revealing good catalyst recyclability and that charge separation in SnO2-PbS leads to significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity in comparison to either SnO2 or PbS.
Highlights
The term ‘nanocomposite’ is used to describe a multiphase solid material in which one of the phases has one, two or three dimensions of less than 100 nm.[1]
The breadth of the reflections indicates that the SnO2 NPs are relatively small.[41] (For the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of PbS NCs see Electronic supplementary information (ESI) Fig. S1.†) The XRD pattern of the SnO2–PbS nanocomposites (Fig. 2b) is similar to that of the SnO2 NPs, the intensity ratio of the first two peaks notwithstanding
Other reflections consistent with PbS are almost absent from the XRD pattern of SnO2–PbS nanocomposites, indicating that the PbS component is rendered significantly amorphous by virtue
Summary
The term ‘nanocomposite’ is used to describe a multiphase solid material in which one of the phases has one, two or three dimensions of less than 100 nm.[1]. The presence of cubic PbS phase alongside tetragonal SnO2 phase is clearly revealed by Fig. 3a, which highlights the significant intensity mismatches that result if the XRD pattern for SnO2–PbS nanocomposites is fitted with only tetragonal SnO2 phase.
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