Solvothermal Synthesis and Photocatalysis of SnO2 Nanocrystal Microspheres

Quasi-monodispersed SnO2 nanocrystal microspheres were successfully fabricated by a solvothermal route with the assistance of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG, Mn=6000) template. The as-prepared SnO2 microspheres were well characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, and FT-IR. The photocatalytic activity for Rh B on the SnO2 microspheres was also investigated under UV irradiation. The experimental results show that the quasi-monodispersed SnO2 microspheres with diameter about 1.3 mu m are self-assembled by large quantity of crystallites less than 10 nm. The SnO2 microspheres have a good photocatalytic property, as evidenced by the result that over 95% of the Rh B decomposed over the SnO2 nanocrystal microspheres within 180 min. The high degradation rate of rhodamine B (Rh B) on the as-synthesized SnO2 nanocrystal microspheres can be attributed to the small size of crystals.