Preparation and photocatalytic properties of nanometer SnO2

Nanometer oxides SnO₂ were prepared by constant temperature hydrolysis, microwave hydrolysis, chemical precipitation and solid state reaction,respectively. The oxides were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), UV absorb spectrum and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) measurement. Photocatalytic properties of nanometer SnO₂ were studied in detail. The photocatalytic activities of nanometer oxides were studied using methyl orange (MO) as a mode organic pollutant. The influences of quantities of photocatalysts, photocatalysts doped with different metal ions and pH of MO liquid were studied. It shows that well-crystalled SnO₂ with the particle size of 30-40 nm can be prepared by constant temperature hydrolysis sintered at 800°C, and the decoloration of MO reaches 97% at 120min, which shows higher photocatalytic activity for methyl orange (MO) than those made from other methods.