Facile synthesis of SnO2 quantum dots and its photocatalytic activity in the degradation of eosin Y dye: A green approach

A facile and green synthesis of SnO2 quantum dots (QDs) was developed by microwave heating method using an aminoacid, serine. The method resulted in the formation of SnO2 QDs having an average diameter of similar to 4.0 nm. The synthesized SnO2 QDs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The optical properties were investigated using UV-visible spectroscopy and a clear blue shift is observed in the band gap energy (similar to 4.5 eV) of synthesized SnO2 QDs. These SnO2 QDs were employed as photocatalyst in the degradation of an organic dye eosin Y by solar irradiation for the first time. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.