Synthesis of SnS2 photocatalysts and investigation of their photocatalytic activities under sun light irradiation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Photocatalysis is the process of acceleration of the photoreaction in presence of the catalyst and is becoming a future research area. Photocatalysis is considered as a promising method for solving environmental and energy issues. Designing efficient photocatalysts that are active in the visible light region, especially sunlight, is still fascinating. In this study, the SnS2 photocatalyst has been prepared by the hydrothermal method in two different solvents, i.e. ethylene glycol and water. X-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy and UV–visible spectroscopy techniques were used for the characterisation of the samples. XRD study indicated that synthetic solvents have a strong effect on crystallinity. The sample was observed as amorphous when prepared in an ethylene glycol medium and very weakly intense peaks of the hexagonal phase of SnS2 when prepared in an aqueous medium. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation of dye rhodamine B and observed that the prepared catalysts could exhibit high activity under sunlight irradiation. It was also found that the photocatalytic activity was strongly dependent on the synthetic solvents. However, there were no significant differences in band-gap energy with the change of solvents. The results indicate that SnS2 can be a potential photocatalyst for the degradation of dyes in wastewater under sunlight irradiation photocatalysis.