SnO2 Nanoparticles: Green Synthesis, Characterization, and Water Treatment

Abstract

The green synthesis approach was utilized to synthesize tin dioxide (SnO2) nanoparticles (NPs) using Ocimum Basilicum leaves extract with different concentrations (10, 15, 20 ml) and different reaction temperatures (30, 60, 90 °C). The green synthesis method is considered economical, environmentally friendly, and non-toxic. X-ray diffraction patterns of the synthesized SnO2 NPs have displayed a tetragonal crystalline structure. The crystallite size of SnO2 NPs increased from 15.12 to 17.9 nm with increasing reaction temperature while decreasing from 20.68 to 17.9 nm with increasing extract concentrations. The morphology of the synthesized SnO2 NPs was investigated using high-energy transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The optical energy gap was determined using the diffuse reflectance UV–vis spectra range (300–1200) nm of SnO2 NPs at different reaction temperatures and different extract concentrations. UV/Visible Spectrophotometer was used for studying the photodegradation of methylene blue dye (MB) dye. The photocatalytic degradation of MB revealed that SnO2 NPs at reaction temperature 90 °C degraded 69% of MB solution when exposed to UV illumination for 90 min while the degradation reaches 90% for 180 min of exposure. It was obvious that the degradation rate of MB was increased with the increase of reaction temperature, and the extract concentration.