Photocatalytic activity of reduced graphene oxide/SnO2 nanocomposites prepared in ionic liquid

Reduced graphene oxide/SnO2 nanocomposites were synthesized within 10 min using a facile microwave-assisted method in an ionic liquid, a clean solvent, without any reducing reagent. The tetragonal structure of SnO2 was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy showed that graphene sheets were coated uniformly with SnO2 nanopaiticles with a small mean diameter of approximately 5 nm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the removal of oxygenous functional groups from graphene oxide to graphene with the formation of SnO2 simultaneously. The photocatalytic activities of the as-prepared nanocomposites for the degradation of methylene blue under UV light irradiation were investigated. The nanocomposites exhibited better photodegradation efficiency than the bare SnO2 nanoparticles. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.