Controlled synthesis and structure tunability of photocatalytically active mesoporous metal-based stannate nanostructures

A variety of stannate nanostructures have been fabricated for UV photocatalysis, including zinc- and cadmium-based stannates. As the template nanostructures, high surface-area mesoporous metal hydroxystannate [ZnSn(OH)6 and CdSn(OH)6] nanoparticles (>100 m2/g) have been synthesized using a simple, low-temperature substitution chemical process with controlled porosity, morphology and crystallinity. Post-synthetic thermal treatments were employed to obtain amorphous ZnSnO3, CdSnO3, ilmenite CdSnO3, and crystalline Zn2SnO4-SnO2 nanoparticles. As a result, the band gaps can be tuned from 5.4 eV to 3.3 eV and from 4.9 eV to 2.1 eV for Zn-based and Cd-based stannates, respectively. Amorphous ZnSnO3 porous nanoparticles showed highest activity toward dye degradation under UV illumination followed by the Zn2SnO4-SnO2 and ilmenite CdSnO3 nanostructures due to their beneficial band structure alignment, high conductivities, and high specific surface areas. This study may provide an important strategy for high throughput synthesis and screening of functional complex metal oxide nanomaterials, while the enabled stannate nanomaterials could be utilized in various applications.