Fabrication of visible-light-driven photocatalysts based on Nd-doped Zn2SnO4 semiconductor and carbonous nanomaterials

The main aim of this research was to sensitize the Zn2SnO4 spinel-like photocatalyst to solar light to degrade the organic pollutants in aquatic media. For this purpose, firstly, the N-doped Zn2SnO4 (N = Nd, Er, and Gd) was synthesized using the facile hydrothermal method to evaluate the effect of the Nd3+, Er3+, and Gd3+ ions as dopant on the photocatalytic activity of the Zn2SnO4. The Nd3+ ions with a content of 5% were selected as the optimum dopant, which efficiently narrowed the band gap of the Zn2SnO4 from 3.5 eV to 2.70 eV. Afterward, the effect of the carbonous supports including, graphene oxide (GO), graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), and functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube (f-SWCNT) on the photocatalytic activity of the undoped and Nd-doped Zn2SnO4 were investigated. The synthesized photocatalysts were characterized using diverse techniques. Based on the results, the degradation efficiency of the AR14 was remarkably increased from 21.9% for Zn2SnO4 to 87.41% for Nd-doped Zn2SnO4 under xenon light within 90 min of reaction time. Moreover, the highest degradation efficiency of 99.6%, 99.6%, and 96.3% was obtained within 90 min of reaction time under xenon light by hybridizing the Nd-doped Zn2SnO4 with g-C3N4, GO, and f-SWCNT, respectively. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.