Surfactants assisted SnO2 nanoparticles synthesized by a hydrothermal approach and potential applications in water purification and energy conversion

Abstract

SnO2 nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by facile hydrothermal method in the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG), cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) as surfactant. The synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–visible DRS) and photoluminescence (PL). The XRD studies revealed that the position of diffraction peaks agreed well with the reflection of a tetragonal structure of SnO2 phase. The structure of the SnO2 did not change by introducing surfactants but the crystallite size was decreased. The optical studies revealed a clear blue shift in the band gap energy (Eg) with a decrease in particle size. The PL intensity of SHMP assisted NPs is lower than that of bare SnO2 and other surfactant assisted SnO2 NPs, which indicated the suppression of the recombination of the photogenerated carriers. These results reveal that SHMP assisted SnO2 NPs is suitable for further electrochemical and photocatalytic activity. The surfactant (SHMP) assisted SnO2 photocatalyst exhibited the increased photocatalytic activities compared with the bare SnO2 photocatalyst. Furthermore, the SHMP assisted SnO2 electrode exhibited the increased supercapacitor performances.