title: Facile synthesis of SnO2-PbS nanocomposites with controlled structure for applications in photocatalysis.
abstract: Recent studies have shown that SnO2-based nanocomposites offer excellent electrical, optical, and electrochemical properties. In this article, we present the facile and cost-effective fabrication, characterization and testing of a new SnO2-PbS nanocomposite photocatalyst designed to overcome low photocatalytic efficiency brought about by electron-hole recombination and narrow photoresponse range. The structure is fully elucidated by X-ray diffraction (XRD)/Reitveld refinement, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) spectrum imaging analysis demonstrates the intermixing of SnO2 and PbS to form nanocomposites. A charge separation mechanism is presented that explains how the two semiconductors in junction function synergistically. The efficacy of this new nanocomposite material in the photocatalytic degradation of the toxic dye Rhodamine B under simulated solar irradiation is demonstrated. An apparent quantum yield of 0.217 mol min(-1) W(-1) is calculated with data revealing good catalyst recyclability and that charge separation in SnO2-PbS leads to significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity in comparison to either SnO2 or PbS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK. aehw2@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Arik
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kar
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Department of Physics, The University of Burdwan, Golapbag, Burdwan, West Bengal 713 104, India.
authors.forename: Sumanta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sain
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK. aehw2@cam.ac.uk and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research and Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4L8, Canada.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rossouw
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK. aehw2@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Benjamin R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Knappett
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Department of Physics, The University of Burdwan, Golapbag, Burdwan, West Bengal 713 104, India.
authors.forename: Swapan Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Pradhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK. aehw2@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Andrew E H
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Wheatley