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A facile synthesis of hierarchical Sn3O4 nanostructures in an acidic aqueous solution and their strong visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

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Abstract

Hierarchical tin(III) oxide, Sn3O4, nanospheres were synthesized via hydrothermal reaction under strongly acidic ambient conditions. The morphology of Sn3O4 varied with decreasing pH. The prickly Sn3O4 nanospheres changed into Sn3O4 nanospheres covered with single-crystalline nanoplates having a high BET surface area of ca. 55.05 m2·g–1 and a band gap of ca. 2.25 eV. Small amounts (0.05 g) of the hierarchical Sn3O4 nanostructures completely decomposed a 30% methyl orange (MO) solution in 100 mL deionized water within 15 min under one sun condition (UV + visible light). The Sn3O4 photocatalyst exhibited a fast decomposition rate of 1.73 × 10−1 min−1, which is a 90.86% enhancement relative to that of the commercially available P25 photocatalyst. The high photocatalytic activity of the hierarchical Sn3O4 nanostructures is attributed to its ability to absorb visible light and its high surface-to-volume ratio.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju, 500-712, Republic of Korea

    Hui Song, Su-Young Son, Seul Ki Kim & Gun Young Jung

  2. Carbon Convergence Materials Research Center, Institute of Advanced Composite Materials, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Jeollabuk-do, 565-905, Republic of Korea

    Su-Young Son

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  1. Hui Song
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Correspondence to Gun Young Jung.

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Song, H., Son, SY., Kim, S.K. et al. A facile synthesis of hierarchical Sn3O4 nanostructures in an acidic aqueous solution and their strong visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity. Nano Res. 8, 3553–3561 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0855-2

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