Visible light photocatalytic properties of cubic and orthorhombic SnS nanoparticles

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2020.137665
• Publication Date: 2020-05-29T08:03:53Z
• Authors: S.S. Hegde; B.S. Surendra; Vijaya Talapatadur; Prashantha Murahari; K. Ramesh
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology

Abstract Visible light responsive nanoparticles (NPs) of cubic and orthorhombic phase SnS were prepared via wet chemical route using triethanolamine (TEA) and ethylene glycol (EG) as complexing agents respectively. The average crystallite size of cubic SnS nanoparticles as calculated for (4 0 0) plane increased from 31 nm to 42 nm when pH of the final solution is increased from 10 to 10.6. The HRTEM images indicated highly crystalline nature of the as-grown NPs of SnS with ordered atomic planes. The photocatalytic property of the samples was also explored by the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. The photodegradation efficiencies of the cubic and orthorhombic SnS nanoparticles over MB dye were found to be 88% and 98% respectively for an irradiation time of 45 min. Electrochemical properties of both the samples were studied by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Orthorhombic SnS NPs with low charge transfer resistance, showed slightly higher photocatalytic activity than the cubic SnS. The results indicate the potential application of SnS NPs in natural sunlight-driven photocatalytic oxidation of industrial dyes and consequent cost-effective treatment of waste water from textile industries.