High photocatalytic performance of zinc hydroxystannate toward benzene and methyl orange

Abstract

Two facile and green methods without any templates, catalysts, surfactants or organic solvents were applied to synthesize ZnSn(OH)6 nanoparticles, i.e. homogeneous precipitation (HP) and hydrothermal (HT). The photocatalytic activities were evaluated on the degradation of organic pollutants under ultraviolet light illumination. Compared to commercial P25, the photoactivity of ZnSn(OH)6 was remarkably improved. The conversion and mineralization ratio of the photocatalytic degradation of benzene by the ZnSn(OH)6-HP were up to 75% and 68%, which is about 20 and 2 times higher than that of P25. The ZnSn(OH)6 has also exhibited high performance toward other persistent organic compounds as well as methyl orange in suspended solution. The order of photodegradation efficiencies of different catalysts was ZnSn(OH)6-HP>P25>ZnSn(OH)6-HT. Based on the characterization results and the detection of active species, the possible mechanism of the high photocatalytic activity of ZnSn(OH)6-HP was discussed. The simplified synthesis of zinc hydroxystannate with outstanding activity could be promisingly used in the future photocatalytic application.