Small amount of TiO 2 modified SnO 2 with enhanced photocatalytic performance toward the removal of rhodamine B

Tin dioxide (SnO 2 ) photocatalyst has broad prospects for the degradation of toxic organic pollutants; however, its practical application is greatly hampered by poor activity due to the high recombination rates of photogenerated electron‐hole pairs. In this work, titania (TiO 2 ) modified SnO 2 photocatalysts were obtained by a facile hydrothermal method to suppress the rapid recombination of photogenerated electron‐hole pairs and improve the photocatalytic activity. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis)_ diffuse reflectance spectra suggest that TiO 2 –SnO 2 composite photocatalysts hold stronger UV light absorption ability than that of the pure SnO 2 . Surface photovoltage spectroscopy and photoelectrochemistry results show that the separation rate of photogenerated charge pairs of TiO 2 –SnO 2 photocatalysts was greatly enhanced. The photocatalytic activities of the photocatalysts were evaluated by the decay of rhodamine B (RhB) under UV irradiation illumination. The results display that modification of SnO 2 by TiO 2 can largely enhance the photocatalytic activity and the photocatalytic performance of 0.5:1‐TS sample is nearly 5 times that of the pure SnO 2 . Moreover, maintaining the ratio of TiO 2 and SnO 2 at 0.5:1, the amount of catalyst was 30 mg, the concentration of dye was 10 mg/l, and the pH of RhB solution was 2, the sample has the best photocatalytic activity.