Visible light irradiated photocatalytic performance of SnS2-CdO nanocomposite against the degradation of rhodamine B (cationic) and congo red (anionic) dyes

The present work focuses on the synthesis of pure SnS2 nanopowder, pure CdO nanopowder and SnS2-CdO nanocomposite by a cost effective chemical method using tin (II) chloride, thiourea and cadmium acetate as the precursor salts. The synthesized samples were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier Transmission Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Photoluminescence (PL) Spectroscopy and Electron spin resonance (ESR). Diffraction peaks related to both SnS2 and CdO was observed in the XRD pattern of the composite. Photocatalytic studies established that the composite exhibit a photodegradation efficiency of nearly equal to 86.11% against rhodamine B and 92.86% against congo red dyes. Also, the SnS2-CdO nanocomposite exhibited enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution activity, from visible light water splitting.