Photocatalytic Activity of Nanostructured Tin Oxide Thin Films

Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) are a unique type of materials that combine electrical conductivity and optical transparency, simultaneously, with a wide range of applications such as displays, low emissive (Low-e) windows, thin-film photovoltaic (PV), smart devices, gas sensors, and solar cells. Among the various types of TCOs materials (ZnO, TiO2, WO3, In2O3), tin dioxide (SnO2) semiconductor has been keenly studied due to its excellent chemical stability and optical and electrical properties. In the present work the nanostructured thin film was successfully synthesized in pristine and doped (Mg, Cu, W & Zr) doped SnO2 nanostructured thin films by simple chemical bath deposition method for the first time. These nanostructured thin films were investigated for structural, optical, and photocatalytic activity applications. The photocatalytic activity of pure and doped SnO2 catalysts was determined by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RHB) under visible light irradiation. The result suggests that doped SnO2 catalyst may have potential applications in pollutant removal as a highly efficient photocatalyst under visible light irradiation.