Size-controlled hydrothermal synthesis of SnS 2 nanoparticles with high performance in visible light-driven photocatalytic degradation of aqueous methyl orange

Abstract

A simple hydrothermal method was developed for the size-controlled synthesis of SnS 2 nanoparticles, using common and inexpensive SnCl 4·5H 2O and thioacetamide as the reactants and 5 vol.% acetic acid aqueous solution as the solvent. The structure, composition and optical property of the obtained products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Brumauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra, and their possible formation mechanism was proposed. Besides, their photocatalytic properties were tested by degrading methyl orange in distilled water (20 mg/l) under visible light ( λ > 420 nm) irradiation. It was found that SnS 2 nanoparticles synthesized under the appropriate hydrothermal conditions not only exhibited high visible light-driven photocatalytic activity, but also had good photocatalytic stability.