Enhancement of visible light photocatalytic activity over bistructural SnO 2 nanobelts

Abstract SnO 2 nanobelts were synthesized by hydrothermal method. The structure and morphology were investigated by XRD, Raman spectra, SEM and TEM. The results revealed that the synthesized SnO 2 nanobelts were covered with amorphous surface. For the photocatalytic efficiency of methylene blue, the none-fully crystallized SnO 2 nanobelts were over four times higher than bulk SnO 2 . Moreover, the photo-degradation rate constant with SnO 2 nanobelts as photocatalysts was over six times higher than bulk SnO 2 . It was considered that the subtle structure of SnO 2 nanobelts not only lowered the band gap but also improved the transfer of charge carriers and trapping effect of solar light. Furthermore, this strategy of enhancing photocatalytic performance could be extended to the other kinds of metal oxide photocatalyst.