Hydrothermal Synthesis and Photocatalytic Performance of Barium Carbonate/Tin Dioxide Nanoparticles

Abstract

Background: Crystal violet dye is stable and difficult to be biodegraded owing to the existence of the multiple aromatic rings of the crystal violet molecules. Removing crystal violet dye from the wastewater is a major challenge. Objective: The aim of the research is to synthesize barium carbonate/tin dioxide nanoparticles and investigate the photocatalytic performance for the degradation of crystal violet. Methods: Barium carbonate/tin dioxide nanoparticles were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal route without any surfactants. The crystal structure, micro-morphology, size and optical performance of the barium carbonate/tin dioxide nanoparticles were investigated by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and solid ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectrum. Results : The size of the barium carbonate/tin dioxide nanoparticles is 20 nm to 200 nm with the band gap of 3.71 eV. The photocatalytic activity of the barium carbonate/tin dioxide nanoparticles was measured by the photocatalytic degradation of crystal violet. The crystal violet degradation efficiency reaches 92.1% with the ultraviolet-visible irradiation time of 8 h using 10 mg barium carbonate/tin dioxide nanoparticles. The crystal violet degradation ratio increases to 96.1% when the dosage of the barium carbonate/tin dioxide nanoparticles increases to 20 mg/10 mL crystal violet dye solution. Active species capture photocatalytic experiments showed that the holes, hydroxyl radicals and superoxide ion radicals are the main active species. Reusability experiments displayed that the barium carbonate/tin dioxide nanoparticles are stable for the crystal violet dye degradation. Conclusion: The barium carbonate/tin dioxide nanoparticles show good photocatalytic performance toward crystal violet under ultraviolet light irradiation.