Zinc stannate nanocubes and nanourchins with high photocatalytic activity for methyl orange and 2,5-DCP degradation

Nanomaterials have emerged as remarkable photocatalysts. In this report, multifunctional cube-like Zn2SnO4 and urchin-like ZnSnO3 nanomaterials were successfully synthesized using zinc and tin metals as ablation targets by the combined strategy of laser ablation in liquid and hydrothermal treatment. Addition of ammonia to the hydrothermal reaction can not only tune the phase structure of the final products from cubic spinel-type Zn2SnO4 to face-centered perovskite ZnSnO3 but also control the morphology of ZnSnO3 in a concentration-dependent manner. When the ammonia concentration was set to 3.0 mol L−1, uniform urchin-like Zn-deficient ZnSnO3 with remarkable lattice distortion was obtained. Photocatalytic activity tests using methyl orange (MO) and 2,5-dichlorophenol (2,5-DCP) as probe molecules under ultraviolet light excitation demonstrated that urchin-like ZnSnO3 is highly active and effective for the degradation of high concentrations of MO (25 ppm) and 2,5-DCP (10 ppm).