Zinc stannate nanocubes and nanourchins with high photocatalytic activity for methyl orange and 2,5-DCP degradation

Abstract

Nanomaterials have emerged as remarkable photocatalysts. In this report, multifunctional cube-like Zn₂SnO₄ and urchin-like ZnSnO₃ nanomaterials were successfully synthesized using zinc and tin metals as ablation targets by the combined strategy of laser ablation in liquid and hydrothermal treatment. Addition of ammonia to the hydrothermal reaction can not only tune the phase structure of the final products from cubic spinel-type Zn₂SnO₄ to face-centered perovskite ZnSnO₃ but also control the morphology of ZnSnO₃ in a concentration-dependent manner. When the ammonia concentration was set to 3.0 mol L⁻¹, uniform urchin-like Zn-deficient ZnSnO₃ with remarkable lattice distortion was obtained. Photocatalytic activity tests using methyl orange (MO) and 2,5-dichlorophenol (2,5-DCP) as probe molecules under ultraviolet light excitation demonstrated that urchin-like ZnSnO₃ is highly active and effective for the degradation of high concentrations of MO (25 ppm) and 2,5-DCP (10 ppm).