Reproducibility and long-term stability of Sn doped MnO2 nanostructures: Practical photocatalytic systems and wastewater treatment applications

Sn-doped MnO2 were synthesized as an oxidant, a mediator of maleic acid (C4H4O4) and SnCl2 as doping ingredient via a basic sol-gel reaction with KMnO4. XRD study signposts that tetragonal crystal structure of MnO2 (ICDD#44-0141) with a plane group of 12/m specialIntscript for both pure and Sn doped MnO2 nanostructures. The photocatalyst synthesized has mesoporosity, allowing to the N-2 adsorption/desorption experiments. The ge-ometry of the materials varies from spherical shape in pristine MnO2 to a rod-like shape in Sn-MnO2, as observed in the SEM and TEM pictures. To examine optic properties and energy bandgaps topologies, UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy was applied. In visible spectrum, overall catalytic performance of Sn-doped MnO2 was tested using methyl orange and phenol as dyes. The results suggest that the optimized Sn doped MnO2 (10 wt.%) catalyst showed higher degradation efficiency (98.5%), apparent constant (0.7841 min(-1)) and long term permanence. For this improved charge extraction efficiency, a potential photocatalytic mechanism was proposed.

Automated summary

In this study, Sn-doped MnO2 nanostructures were successfully synthesized via a basic sol-gel reaction. The results showed that Sn-doped MnO2 exhibited higher catalytic performance in the visible spectrum. By adjusting the doping ratio of Sn, the degradation efficiency and stability of the catalyst can be further optimized.