Hydrothermal synthesis of SnO2–Zn2SnO4–graphene composites with high activity for photodegradation of rhodamine B

The SnO₂-Zn₂SnO₄-graphene composite photocatalysts were successfully prepared by a facile hydrothermal reaction method in an ethanol-water solvent. The as-prepared catalysts were characterised by techniques of X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and N₂-sorption. The catalytic activity test results show that this SnO₂-Zn₂SnO₄-graphene composite possesses higher photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) activity than that of pure SnO₂-Zn₂SnO₄ under UV-light irradiation in an aqueous solution. The improved photocatalytic activity may be due to the increased adsorbability for the RhB molecule, more active sites, more photocatalytic reaction centres and the prevention of the photogenerated electron-hole pair recombination.