Preparation of pyramidal SnO/CeO2 nano-heterojunctions with enhanced photocatalytic activity for degradation of tetracycline

Pyramidal SnO/CeO2 nano-heterojunction photocatalysts were successfully synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method. The structural characterization was investigated by using common characterization tools. The content of SnO affected the morphology and photocatalytic performance of the SnO/CeO2 nano-heterojunctions. With the increase of the SnO content, the morphology of the samples changed from a spherical structure to a pyramidal structure. The photocurrent of the SnO/CeO2 (1:6) sample was about 36 times that of pure CeO2. With SnO/CeO2 (1:6) as the photocatalyst, the degradation rate of tetracycline (TC) was 99% within 140 min under visible light and after five cyclic tests the photocatalytic efficiency of TC remained at 98%, which suggests that the SnO/CeO2 (1:6) nano-heterojunction had a high photocatalytic efficiency and stable photocatalytic performance. These results indicate that SnO/CeO2 (1:6) nano-heterojunction possesses broad prospects for industrial application.