Size-controlled hydrothermal synthesis of SnS2 nanoparticles with high performance in visible light-driven photocatalytic degradation of aqueous methyl orange

A simple hydrothermal method was developed for the size-controlled synthesis of SnS2 nanoparticles, using common and inexpensive SnCl4·5H2O and thioacetamide as the reactants and 5 vol.% acetic acid aqueous solution as the solvent. The structure, composition and optical property of the obtained products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Brumauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra, and their possible formation mechanism was proposed. Besides, their photocatalytic properties were tested by degrading methyl orange in distilled water (20 mg/l) under visible light (λ > 420 nm) irradiation. It was found that SnS2 nanoparticles synthesized under the appropriate hydrothermal conditions not only exhibited high visible light-driven photocatalytic activity, but also had good photocatalytic stability.

► Size-tunable synthesis of SnS2 nanoparticles is achieved by a hydrothermal method.
► The possible formation mechanism of size-tunable SnS2 nanoparticles is proposed.
► All products show higher activities than “200-0 SnS2”, flowerlike CdS and P25 TiO2.
► The product with the highest activity also had good photocatalytic stability.