Facile synthesis of SnO2 quantum dots and its photocatalytic activity in the degradation of eosin Y dye: A green approach

Abstract

Abstract A facile and green synthesis of SnO 2 quantum dots (QDs) was developed by microwave heating method using an aminoacid, serine. The method resulted in the formation of SnO 2 QDs having an average diameter of ~4.0 nm. The synthesized SnO 2 QDs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The optical properties were investigated using UV-visible spectroscopy and a clear blue shift is observed in the band gap energy (~4.5 eV) of synthesized SnO 2 QDs. These SnO 2 QDs were employed as photocatalyst in the degradation of an organic dye eosin Y by solar irradiation for the first time.