Preparation, characterization and visible-light photocatalytic performances of composite films prepared from polyvinyl chloride and SnO2 nanoparticles

• CPVC/SnO2 composite film was prepared by a facile casting method.
• Composite films possess good visible-light photocatalytic activity and stability.
• Optimum preparation conditions of CPVC/SnO2 composite film were determined.
• Visible-light photocatalytic mechanism of CPVC/SnO2 composite films was discussed.

The composite films containing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and SnO2 nanoparticles with the size of circa 3 nm were prepared by a facile casting method. The PVC/SnO2 composite films were heated at higher temperatures of 150 °C to form CPVC/SnO2 composite films with conjugated structure on their surface via dehydrochlorination reaction of PVC molecules. The CPVC/SnO2 composite films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The visible-light photocatalytic activity and stability of the as-prepared composite films were evaluated by photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) solution. The results reveal that the CPVC/SnO2 composite films possess excellent visible-light photocatalytic activity and stability, and the visible-light photocatalytic activity is about 25 times of that of graphite-like carbon nitride (g-C3N4) if their specific surface area is considered. As the PVC content, heat-treatment temperature or time increases, the visible-light photocatalytic activity of the composite films increases first and then decreases, and the optimum conditions are 1:3 of the mass ratio of PVC and SnO2, 150 °C and 2 h, respectively. The visible-light photocatalytic mechanism of the CPVC/SnO2 composite film has been discussed.

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