Degradation of azo dyes under different wavelengths of UV light with chitosan-SnO2 nanocomposites

• Published in: Journal of molecular liquids 2017-04, Vol.232, p.423-430
• Main Authors: Gupta, Vinod Kumar, Saravanan, R., Agarwal, Shilpi, Gracia, F., Khan, Mohhammad Mansoob, Qin, Jiaqian, Mangalaraja, R.V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chitosan-SnO2; Nanocomposites; Photocatalyst; UV light
• ISSN: 0167-7322; 1873-3166
• DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2017.02.095

In this study, synthesis of novel binary chitosan-SnO2 nanocomposites is reported. Different physical and chemical techniques were used to characterize and analyze the characteristics of the chitosan-SnO2 nanocomposites as photocatalysts. The prepared novel photocatalysts were used to degrade the model dyes such as methyl orange (MO) and rhodamine B (RhB) under different wavelengths (254, 310 and 365nm) of UV light. The photocatalytic degradation results suggest that the prepared binary chitosan-SnO2 (50:50) nanocomposite shows superior degradation efficiency compared with pure SnO2 and binary chitosan-SnO2 (75:25) nanocomposite owing to its high crystallinity, high surface area, and small particle size. It was also observed that chitosan-SnO2 (50:50) nanocomposite under different wavelengths (254nm, 310nm, and 365nm) of UV light showed highest photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange and rhodamine B at 365nm irradiation. [Display omitted] •The nanocomposites were synthesized by simple precipitation followed by sonication method.•Chitosan-SnO2 nanocomposites are found to have superior photocatalytic activity when compared with pure SnO2.•High crystallinity, small size and high surface area exhibits high catalytic activity.•Favorable catalyst for environmental applications.