Green energy induced photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue and crystal violet dyes by strontium doped tin oxide nanoparticles and its antibacterial activity

Sunlight driven strontium doped tin oxide (SnO2) photocatalyst was synthesized with different strontium (Sr) concentrations by the simplest sol-gel methodology. The XRD diffractogram findings revealed the decrement in the average crystallite size from 13 nm to 8 nm and shifting of diffraction peaks towards lower diffraction angle signifies the incorporation of Sr2+ ions in the host lattice sites. Optical studies unveiled the reduction in the energy bandgap values with respect to doping concentration i.e. 2.94 eV for pristine SnO2 to 2.43 eV for 1.5% Sr: SnO2. The photocatalytic measurements showed that the action of Sr doped SnO2 nanoparticles (1.5%) on methylene blue (MB) and crystal violet (CV) dyes exhibited momentous photocatalytic performance of about 83.3% in 100 minutes and 67.8% in 150 minutes under natural sunlight. Additionally, an efficient antibacterial activity of Sr doped SnO2 nanoparticles (at 1.5% doping) was estimated against a gram negative bacteria E. Coli.

Automated summary

In this study, sunlight driven strontium doped tin oxide (SnO2) photocatalyst was synthesized using the simplest sol-gel method. The incorporation of Sr2+ ions in the host lattice sites was confirmed by XRD diffractogram findings. Optical studies showed a reduction in energy bandgap values with increasing Sr doping concentration. The Sr doped SnO2 nanoparticles exhibited significant photocatalytic performance and efficient antibacterial activity.