Visible-light-activated nanocomposite photocatalyst of Fe2O3/SnO2

A novel visible-light-activated Fe2O3/SnO2 nanocomposite photocatalyst was prepared by co-precipitation method, and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N-2 adsorption-desorption measurement and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The characterization results found that the phase composition, crystallite size, BET surface area and optical absorption of the samples varied significantly with the heat-treatment temperatures. The Fe2O3/SnO2 photocatalyst (the molar ratio of Fe to Sri is 2:1) calcined at 400 degrees C for 3 h exhibited maximum photocatalytic activity because it has a smaller particle size of 15 nm and a higher surface area of 28.75 m(2) g(-1). Under visible-light (lambda > 400 nm) irradiation, the degradation rate of acid blue 62 reached 98.0% in 60min, which is about 3.6 times higher than that of the standard P25 photocatalyst. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.