Electrochemical Generation of Cubic Shaped Nano Zn2SnO4 Photocatalysts

Abstract

Abstract In this contribution, an efficient and simple two-step hybrid electrochemical-thermal route was developed for the synthesis of cubic shaped Zn2SnO4 (ZTO) nanoparticles using aqueous sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and sodium stannate (Na2SnO3) electrolyte. The sacrificial Zn was used as anode and cathode in an undivided cell under galvanostatic mode at room temperature. The bath concentration and current density were respectively varied from 30 to 120 mmol and 0.05 to 1.5 A/dm2. The electrochemically generated precursor was calcined for an hour at different range of temperature from 60 to 600°C. The crystallite sizes in the range of 24-53 nm were calculated based on Debye-Scherrer equation. Scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscopy results reveal that all the particles have cubic morphology with diameter of 40–50 nm. The as-prepared ZTO samples showed higher catalytic activity towards the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye, and 90% degradation was found for the sample calcined at 600°C, which is greater than that of commercial TiO2-P25 photocatalysts. The photodegradation efficiency of ZTO samples was found to be a function of exposure time and the dye solution pH value. These results indicate that the ZTO nanoparticles may be employed to remove dyes from wastewater.