Fabrication and characteristics of Zn 1–x Sn x O nanorod/ITO composite photocatalytic films

• Published in: Materials research express Vol. 7; no. 4; p. 45504
• Main Authors: Dung T., Nguyen, Dang Tran, Chien, Trinh Duc, Thien, Duong, Anh Tuan, Pham Duc, Thang, Nguyen Nang, Dinh, Nguyen, Dinh Lam
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.04.2020
• ISSN: 2053-1591; 2053-1591
• DOI: 10.1088/2053-1591/ab8a80

Abstract Zn 1−x Sn x O NRs/ITO composite photocatalytic films were fabricated by the hydrothermal method. A concentration of Sn dopant in Zn 1−x Sn x O nanorods (NRs) was varied from 0% to 7%. The structural and surface morphology characteristics of Zn 1−x Sn x O NRs/ITO composite photocatalytic films were investigated by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. In addition, photocatalytic properties of synthesized materials were evaluated by degradation rates of Rhodamine-B aqueous solutions under UV light irradiation. The SEM results indicated that, with an increasing concentration of Sn dopant in Zn 1−x Sn x O NRs/ITO, the effective surface areas were declined by an exponential decay function and the reduction was negligible as the Sn doping concentration was higher than 3%. With the similarity in effective surface area, the contribution of Sn in the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity of Zn 0.93 Sn 0.07 O NRs/ITO is clearly observed with 41% improvement in comparison to ZnO NRs/ITO.