Enhanced simulated sunlight induced photocatalytic activity by pomegranate-like S doped SnO2@TiO2 spheres

•Pomegranate-like S doped SnO2@TiO2 composite nanoparticles were synthesized.•The product showed broadened absorption edge and narrowed energy band gap.•The composites display enhanced photocatalytic activity under simulated sunlight irradiation.

In the present study we prepared pomegranate-like S doped SnO2@TiO2 composite sphere nanoparticles with high simulated sunlight photocatalytic activity. Various characterization techniques such as TEM, HRTEM, SEM, XRD, EDX, XPS were used to check its morphology and structural properties. UV–vis spectra showed that the composite particles have broadened absorption edge and narrowed energy band gap compared with pure TiO2. The composite particles displayed enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with other photocatalysts, including TiO2, S doped TiO2, SnO2@TiO2, etc. The rhodamine B (RhB) dyes can be degraded by 97% in 200 min, by synthesizing composite particles, under the simulated sunlight irradiation. The electron scavenger (K2S2O8) can accelerate the photocatalytic activity by 62%, indicating that the holes act as the major role for the oxidization of organic pollutants. Mechanism discussion was also proposed to support that the prepared S doped SnO2@TiO2 composite nanoparticles can serve as a promising candidate for the applications in many solar catalytic fields.

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