Preparation and photocatalytic properties of SnO 2 coated on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes

Abstract

SnO2 nanoparticles coated on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes were prepared successfully via a simple wet-chemical route. The as-obtained SnO2/CNx composites were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The photocatalytic activity of as-prepared SnO2/CNx for degradation Rhodamine B under UV light irradiation was investigated. The results show that SnO2/CNx nanocomposites have a higher photocatalytic activity than pure SnO2 and SnO2/CNTs nanocomposites. This enhanced photoresponse indicates that the photoinduced electrons in the SnO2 prefer separately transferring to the CNx, which has a high degree of defects. As a consequence, the radiative recombination of the electron-hole pairs is hampered and the photocatalytic activity is significantly enhanced for the SnO2/CNx photocatalysts. © 2012 Lingling Wang et al.