Green synthesis of SnO2 nanorods and Mo-SnO2 nanocomposite for efficient sunlight driven organic dye photodegradation in aqueous solution

Green synthesis methodology was employed for the synthesis of SnO2 and SnO2/MoO3 composite. The leaf extract of Magnifera indica which is rich in polyphenols was used for reducing the precursor metal salt into the corresponding oxides as nanomaterial. The optimum yield of nanomaterials was obtained in 120 min at 70 degrees C using leaf extract of the Magnifera indica. The structure, morphology, and composition, of the synthesized nanomaterials was studied by FTIR, XRD, and SEM. It was found that the materials were successfully synthesized with rod shape morphology. The catalytic ability of these synthesized materials was evaluated by degradation of Methylene blue in aqueous solution. The crystallite size, bandgap and nanostructure growth with specific shape contributed towards the enhanced photodegradation performance of SnO2/MoO3. There appears a change in bandgap energy from 3.60 eV of SnO2 to 3.36 eV of SnO2/MoO3. The photocatalytic efficiency of nanocomposite SnO2/MoO3 is enhanced to (73.0%) as compared to that of the pure SnO2 (69.0%). The most important being that minimum amount (1 mg) of the nanocomposite has been utilized during these photocatalytic experiments.

Automated summary

Green synthesis was used to successfully synthesize SnO2 and SnO2/MoO3 composite. The leaf extract of Magnifera indica was employed as a reducing agent to produce nanomaterials with rod shape morphology. The synthesized nanomaterials were characterized by FTIR, XRD, and SEM, and exhibited enhanced photocatalytic performance in the degradation of Methylene blue compared to pure SnO2. The bandgap energy of SnO2/MoO3 composite was found to be 3.36 eV, lower than that of SnO2 (3.60 eV), leading to improved photocatalytic efficiency.