Rapid synthesis of nanocrystalline TiO2/SnO2 binary oxides and their photoinduced decomposition of methyl orange

Abstract

A rapid and simple method, the so-called stearic acid method (SAM) was developed to prepare nanostructured TiO2/SnO2 binary oxides by combustion of stearic acid precursors. The preparative process was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). During the preparative process, metal precursors were dispersed in stearic acid at molecular level. Microstructure of the samples was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), BET specific surface area measurement and the results were compared with those obtained by conventional sol-gel method. The photocatalytic decomposition of methyl orange was used as a model system to determine the relative i..