Preparation, characterization, and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue of SnO2/RGO nanocomposite produced by facile hydrothermal process |
S. Moghaddas1, M. Salehi2, S. Bagheri-Kazemabad2 |
1Ceramic Department, Materials and Energy Research Center (MERC), Alborz, Iran 2School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Narmak, Tehran, Iran |
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Received: November 16, 2021; Revised: April 1, 2022 Accepted: April 17, 2022. Published online: May 10, 2022. |
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ABSTRACT |
A facile hydrothermal route has been used to produce a SnO2 (tin oxide)/RGO (reduced graphene oxide) nanocomposite. The microstructure and properties of the prepared nanocomposite were studied by an X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR), UV–Vis analysis, and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The formation of SnO2 phase over RGO is confirmed by the XRD and FTIR results. The absence of a distinct peak of GO in the SnO2/RGO nanocomposite produced hydrothermally shows the reduction of GO to RGO completely. FE-SEM and TEM images show that SnO2 nanoparticles with size about 20 nm distributed homogeneously on the graphene surface. UV–Vis analysis of the SnO2/RGO sample exhibits broad absorption in the visible range (400–700 nm) indicating the SnO2 formation on the sheets of reduced graphene oxide. Moreover, the nanocomposite was employed as a photocatalyst under UV light irradiations to the removal of methylene blue (MB). The produced SnO2/RGO nanocomposite removes the absorption peak of MB at around 665 nm within 20 min, implying the nanocomposite possesses good photocatalytic efficiency under UV light irradiations. |
Key words:
Graphene · Nanocomposite · Photocatalyst · SnO2 · UV irradiation |
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